Borderlands

Borderlands is a 1991 children's historical novel by author Peter Carter. Originally published in the UK in 1990 as Leaving Cheyenne, it is a study of the American West in 1871 as seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy. Plot Borderlands spans several decades as the somewhat naïve orphan, Ben Curtis, loses his mother and his brother, and learns the harsh lessons of life in the Wild West, experiencing the rise and fall of famous boom towns like Abilene and Dodge City. Part I: Getting Along In Clement County, Texas, Beauregard 'Bo' Curtis, his younger brother Benjamin 'Ben', and their widowed mother are struggling to keep their farm afloat in the tough economic times of the late 19th century. But during the summer of 1870, their sickly mother dies, leaving the two brothers to take care of the family farm alone. Ben and Bo hope to receive help from their estranged sister Flo, but to their dismay Flo is now married and has turned her back on her family, leaving them to suffer in poverty alone.