Once Upon A Dream

This story took place in Billings, Montana, seventy years ago, in 1948. It is about the life and adventures of Tom Blake, an investigative reporter for the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Chronicle. For twenty years, since age seven, Tom had a fascination with going West to discover and investigate what was left of the Wild Western frontier. The seed was planted by his father, who often talked about what it might be like out West.

Tom’s dream was to become a cowboy. When he left his job at the Chronicle, little did he suspect that a freak auto accident outside Billings would result in a romance with the beautiful, vivacious, and provocative Cody Carson.

Their adventures are fascinating and thrilling, particularly the capture of a cattle-rustling gang, a murder mystery, the investigation, and the trial. Their story also helped to fulfill my dream of researching and writing about the people of the West—wild or not.