Tom Norton

Juan & Achak 1868 Tom Norton

This is the story of two young boys in the Republic of Texas whose parents were violently killed by Mexican banditos. Their father being Mexican and their mother Indian, they fled and were alone in the south Texas desert country with only what they were wearing. They were then confronted with surviving in the desert on grasshoppers and finding little water. With nowhere to go in the desert, they found themselves following a herd of cattle being driven to Cheyenne in the new Territory of Wyoming by cattlemen who would shoot an Indian on sight. Due to circumstances, they were secretly befriended by a very salty woman chuck wagon driver who was questionably a woman by the cattlemen driving the herd. This association continued on the way to Cheyenne and afterwards. The boys, ten and twelve became somewhat of living legends in the Wyoming country for their bravery and efficiency at eliminating bad Indians and criminals.