The Queen of Montana: The Life and Times of L. Mackenzie Jr.

Even when she wasn't winning babies in card games or staying out all night with drunken cowboys, Lawrie Mackenzie Jr scandalized the good people of Montana. The rest of them just tried to stay out of her way.

Set against the rugged splendor of the Rocky Mountains, "The Queen of Montana" is the epic story of Lawrie Mackenzie Jr - fiercely independent and able to hold her own against blizzards, floods, and the men who ruled the territory.

She survives the murders of her sodbuster family because she is hiding to examine a locket she received as a birthday gift; lifelong guilt for not saving her sister follows.

An 11th-hour rescue by nuns on their way to start a school in Montana Territory puts her under the guardianship of Eustis Clendenin, a Confederate veteran. Junior is traumatized by the massacre and doesn't speak. As they cross the country, she becomes the protégée of Guy LaFontaine, a notorious card shark who recognizes her extraordinary gift for numbers. Evenings are spent observing Guy's poker games, where he makes the mistake of sharing his tricks.

One of these games blows up and two secrets are exposed: she can speak, and she is not a boy. Guy is injured; he and Junior are confined to Mother Superior's wagon where their bond is grows.

Junior is deposited with the captain's wife at Ft Redemption. She resists Miss Claire's attempts to provide a loving home. At school she is a reluctant student with only one friend - Goes Alone, an Indian youth - but a number of antagonists. Junior's life is upended again when the captain is killed at Little Big Horn and Miss Claire returns to Georgia.

Back with Eustis, a prank teenage Junior plays on Guy and his horse Sparky backfires and results in Goes Alone's departure and undying enmity between her and Guy. Still bitter at 21, she manipulates Guy into a grudge match of poker. The stakes are a baby Guy rescued and the locket that saved Junior's life.

Dogs and her horse Roman are all Junior needs - or so she tells herself. James Farley, a young man on the move, wants nothing more than to marry the woman of his dreams and be a father to Raphie, the child she won in the card game but whom she openly resents.

Junior fears losing freedom and becoming powerless like her friend. Honey Simpson is wealthy but unhappy and with little to do but nag Junior to teach her to ride her horse TripleX. Their misadventures neither endear her to Honey's husband nor help her reputation. Junior wants to live at Flat on Top, a series of caves she and Goes Alone discovered that have become a tourist attraction. She refuses to join Farley at his home, The Queen of Montana, even after he tricks her into an impromptu wedding.

Together Junior and Farley build a media empire; Farley has had enough and joins Robert Peary's expedition to the North Pole. Shortly after he leaves a flashflood kills hundreds.

Junior is one of the most powerful women in the Northwest. She dreams of the day Raphie is independent, but handles it badly when he defies her to marry Esmeralda, a woman she says is unacceptable. It worsens when Raphie catches Esmeralda with another man. Raphie stands in front of a train.

Junior is near catatonic with grief, realizing that a hard heart is no protection. She humbles herself to ask Guy for help.

Junior is surprised when Esmeralda reappears with James, a small child who may or may not be Raphie's son. James gives Junior a do-over; between him and a young neighbor Junior finds redemption and joy in life.

The scene is set for the next two books of the trilogy.