THE JOURNAL OF JOSHUA LOPER: A Black Cowboy, The Chisolm Trail, 1871
by Walter Dean Myers
Scholastic
ISBN: 0590026917
Ages 8-10

Eager to prove himself, an African-American boy joins a cattle drive from Texas to Abilene, Kansas. He faces not only difficult work, including such surprises as a stampede, but he also must suffer the racial prejudice of his trail boss, the Captain.