Who Killed Chester Pray?: A Death Valley Mystery

Written in the newly recognized nonfiction genre of historical reconstruction, Who Killed Chester Pray? transports the reader to a last, grand hurrah of the American West. Seeking his fortune in the early 1900s, young prospector-assayer Chester Pray filched a Nevada sheriff's horses, stole gold belonging to a U.S. Senator, and ultimately discovered one of the richest lodes ever in Death Valley. Then, Pray was shot dead in the night.

By who? Why? As many as seven individuals had ample cause to kill Chester Pray. His new partners? Gunslinger "Diamondfield Jack"? Even pretty Clara, his fiancée? The psychologically compelling answer is not what you would expect.

"Who Killed Chester Pray? provides new and revealing information about one of Death Valley's most provocative unsolved mysteries. Author Nicholas Clapp's intensive research and use of a flowing narrative result in a wonderfully readable book that not only probes the dark side of human nature, but presents an exciting picture of the American mining West of the early 20th century."--Linda Greene, coauthor, A History of Mining in Death Valley National Monument