Mike Madigan, an Irish immigrant living in Chicago, receives a windfall inheritance from his uncle's estate. He wants nothing as much as land of his own in his new country, so he invites his best friend to explore and then homestead in Western Colorado with him. All manner of challenges present themselves, but the settlers persist through attacks by bears, cougars and Indians. Their fiercest antagonist turns out be an evil politician who helped them get their land, but then wants it for himself. Despite kidnappings and an organized assault by railroad company mercenaries, the pioneers prevail.
The chronicle and the characters are fictional, but the period detail and the geographical descriptions are totally accurate. The author draws on his knowledge of the Colorado Western Slope and his experiences as a hunter and horseman to enrich the narrative. The story is an uplifting epic tale of American tenacity and perseverance.
Wild Rag Westerns acquaint the reader with Colorado's desolate Western Slope, and in a vivid and entertaining way depict what it was like to be up against it in the Wild West of the 1860's.