William W. Johnstone is one of the greatest storytellers to chronicle the spectacle and drama of life in a young America. In this extraordinary novel, Johnstone tells the epic story of a young man from the Ozark Mountains who journeys west to the violent lands of Colorado Territory and learns to be lightning with a gun--and destined to become the last of a breed.
Kirby Jensen is a big, rawboned boy whose family is shattered by the Civil War, heading west with a father haunted by a secret from the war and by everything he has lost. Father and son meet a man reeking of the wilderness, who calls himself "Preacher," and leads them into a sudden fight with renegade Pawnee Indians. In a matter of moments, in a storm of gunsmoke and blood, Kirby Jensen finds his calling, and is christened with a new name...
He is now Smoke Jensen, who learns the ways of survival and warfare from Preacher, falling in love with a beautiful young woman, and discovering the cruel truth behind what drove his father to an early grave.
As Smoke becomes one with the rugged land, he knows the raging violence that courses through his own blood, and he knows the story of the gold, traitors, and killers that his father tried to shield him from.
For a time, Smoke keeps his rage at bay. But Preacher will ultimately lead him to the most dangerous place a man can be. Smoke Jensen--and his skill with a gun became a legend, the law has become an enemy, and gunmen are coming with a mission: to slaughter the people Smoke Jensen loves most.
Vivid, fast-paced and pulsing with passion, THE LAST MOUNTAIN MAN is the classic saga of a man driven into a battle on the American frontier that will ultimately decide the fate of a new land.