7 h 56 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On the open frontier, a person's word carries weight—and rivalry puts that word to the test.
In The Range Boss, Charles Alden Seltzer places a ranch at the heart of a struggle over who leads and who follows. The land stretches wide, the law feels far away, and honor depends on action. Promises matter here, but keeping them means standing firm when trouble comes.
Romance grows alongside ranch work and danger, with respect earned through deeds rather than words alone. Seltzer keeps the story moving through riding, confrontation, and talk in bunkhouses or on porches. This is a frontier world of clear moral lines, where rivalry tests character and love shares the ground with conflict.
What you’ll discover
- A ranch under pressure Enter a struggle for leadership where authority and personal honor meet.
- Promises put to work Explore a hard code that asks people to prove themselves through action.
- Love beside danger Follow a romance shaped by respect, ranch life, and the threat of trouble.
- Room beneath big skies Step into cattle country, where open land frames the tensions of frontier life.
- A story in motion Enjoy direct storytelling that moves through riding, confrontation, and plainspoken exchanges.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like cowboy adventures, ranch life, frontier rivalries, and romance across the plains. A wry hero who talks to his pony brings warmth and humor to the danger.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Rescue at Calamity Crossing
- A New Owner Meets Her Ranch
- Randerson Becomes the Range Boss
- Pickett Learns the Gun Is the Law
- The Law of the Range Argued on Horseback
- Hagar's Secret and a Fight in the Timber
- A Night on the Rock, a Steer, and a Shooting Lesson
- A Target and a Day Together
- What the Story Is Really About
Who’s who
- King RandersonThe Diamond H foreman who becomes the Flying W range boss, quick with a gun, kind to the weak, and set on winning Ruth.
- Ruth HarknessA young woman from Poughkeepsie who inherits the Flying W ranch and must learn the ways of the range.
- Willard MastenRuth's polished Eastern fiancé, who sneers at the West and schemes behind her back.
- Uncle JepsonRuth's blunt, sharp-eyed uncle, who distrusts Masten and quietly helps Randerson.
- Aunt MarthaRuth's kindly aunt, who treats Randerson like a son and sees the truth before Ruth does.
- Tom ChavisThe ranch foreman who resents the new owner, leaves, and turns to rustling.
- Hagar CathersonA homesteader's daughter whom Ruth befriends, and whom Randerson has known since she was a child.
- PatchesRanderson's piebald pony, clever and fast, who seems to understand his rider's every word.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 56 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Il capo del ranch in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Il capo del ranch
by Charles Alden Seltzer · 1916
A cowboy hides on a mesa and watches a buckboard roll toward a flooded crossing and the girl whose picture he keeps.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
A rider hides behind a thicket on a mesa and watches a buckboard roll toward a flooded crossing called Calamity. Inside is a girl whose picture he has studied for weeks.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Rescue at Calamity Crossing
The story opens at a river crossing called Calamity, where King Randerson, foreman of the Diamond H, waits on his piebald pony Patches. He watches a buckboard carry Ruth Harkness, her Aunt Martha, her Uncle Jepson, and a stranger named Willard Masten toward the Flying W ranch.
Masten ignores the advice he was given, steers left instead of right, and sinks the buckboard in the mud. Randerson rides down and carries the old couple and then Ruth to the bank on his saddle. He drags the buckboard free with his rope, and a quick swing of that rope tosses Masten face down into the mud.
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What is The Range Boss about?
It follows Ruth Harkness, a young Eastern woman who inherits a ranch, and Rex Randerson, the cowboy who becomes her range boss. Together they face rustlers, a scheming fiancé, and the question of what justice means on the frontier.
Who is Rex Randerson?
Randerson is a lean, blue-eyed cowboy raised on the range. Friends call him Wrecks, though his given name is King. He is quick with a gun, kind to the weak, and devoted to Ruth.
What is Calamity Crossing?
Calamity is the river crossing near the Flying W where the story begins. Its muddy bottom and swirling water trap Ruth's buckboard, and Randerson rescues the party there.
The author
Charles Alden Seltzer
1875–1942 · American Western novelist
Charles Alden Seltzer (1875–1942) was an American writer of Western novels. He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, and lived in Ohio. His books include The Range Boss, published in 1916, and 'Firebrand' Trevison, published in 1918. He also wrote 'Drag' Harlan, published in 1921. He died in 1942.
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