No Ashes

In the early 1900s, Jasper County in the heart of the Piney Woods of Texas was not the wide, flat, cactus-dotted prairie of one's imagination. It was a dense forest with steep hills where life was rugged and often crude. Women worked alongside men; children's chores left them little time for mischief; weakness had no place in a harsh environment.

In times such as these, perhaps no one played a more crucial role than the town sheriff. Certainly, few men did it with greater color, guts, or intuition than R. C. Pace. First as a deputy for Beaver Bishop, one of Jasper County's most notorious sheriffs, then as a sheriff with deputies of his own. R.C. Pace built his reputation on a foundation of trust for more than thirty years. A colorful and effective lawman, Sheriff Pace won the respect of white and black citizens alike, during a turbulent era in the history of Texas.

No Ashes is alive with cattle rustlings, shoot-outs, husband-poisonings, nights spent under the stars around a campfire - the everyday dramas of a bye-gone era. Katherine Baldwin's fond, carefully researched tribute to her grandfather will give readers a glimpse into a world that no longer exists. One that, for all its hardships, feels like a simpler, enviable time.