Rio Tinto
Hired as a muleskinner for the Red Devil Salt Works, Wil Chama drives the salt wagons from Tinto Flats to the town of Rio Tinto, Texas. In 1880, salt is a valuable commodity and Randall Kellums, owner of the salt mines, wants control over all the salt deposits at the Flats. Amos Montoya and his company of Mexican laborers in the town are forced out of the mining business by Kellums. Chama, with a reputation as a gunman, is hired by Montoya to prevent Kellums from stealing the mining rights from him. What ensues is a battle over the mineral rights between the two factions.
This stand-alone novel is the second in a three-book series. Michael Zimmer writes in a simple, straightforward way about life in the old West. I have read other Zimmer novels and found this one deserving of praise as a well-written, page-turning Western novel. I highly recommend this book to Western enthusiasts.
