Tim McCoy #17

Tex Ritter grew up in the saddle on the Texas plains, developing a deep knowledge of horses and a love for the western way of life. Though he attended Texas University and Northwestern to earn a law degree, he eventually chose to pursue his passion for the songs and culture of the West—knowledge rooted in his boyhood on the prairies—becoming a featured performer at the Madison Square Garden Rodeo in New York.

When a government engraver is kidnapped by the Sharpe Gang and forced to print counterfeit money in a hidden mountain cave, Secret Service agent Tim Hayes goes undercover to infiltrate the ring—only to discover that the engraver's daughter, Joan Doyle, is already working the case from the inside. With Joan's help identifying the gang members and Tim's cunning plan to secure the hideout's location, the two must coordinate a daring raid to rescue Pat Doyle and shut down the operation before Sharpe realizes his newest recruit isn't who he claims to be.

Tim McCoy explores the sacred Hopi Snake Dance, a nine-day ceremonial prayer for rain performed each August on the Arizona reservation, where the Antelope and Snake Priests conduct an intricate ritual involving live rattlesnakes, sacred corn meal, and cottonwood boughs. Through detailed depiction of the dance's phases—from the initial processions around the kisi to the dramatic finale where the snakes are released to the four directions—this story reveals how the Red Man honors the Great Spirit and seeks blessings from the gods. McCoy presents the ceremony with respectful attention to its spiritual significance and the dancers' remarkable resilience.

When a stagecoach is ambushed near the Halfway House inn, marshal Rocky Lane finds himself investigating a murder and a missing man—but the local innkeeper and stage agent are hiding something, and every clue points toward an innocent prospector. With his unexpected partner and his stallion Blackjack, Rocky must untangle a web of greed and deception to recover a fortune and clear a man's name before the real culprits slip away.