“The Lonesome Plains is never flashy, but it’s a powerful book that quietly and slowly penetrates deeply into the reader’s soul and brings vividly to life a bit of American history that isn’t so long gone.” —Washington Times “This volume constitutes a landmark study, the reading of which is essential for any historical understanding of panhandle Texas.”—Choice “In allowing these early pioneers to tell their own story, Fairchild places them at the center of the settlement drama, and portrays them as people engaged in a desperate, lonely struggle who ultimately endured.”—Southwestern Historical Quarterly