Greetings folks,

Many years ago I read a L’Amour book about a man who had a ranch inside a closed valley. He could access it through a cave. The ranchers around had over grazed their range and they wanted his valley.

Now, I’ve spent a very pleasant few months re-reading most of his books. I cannot find this one story! It’s driving me crazy. I swear I read this story. I’m sure it was a Louis L’Amour story.

If anybody can tell me the name of this story I would greatly appreciate it.

Might be Crossfire Trail.

No, I read Crossfire Trail in October. At this point I’m wondering if it wasn’t one of his longer short stories.

Try the Short Story Merano of the Dry Country.

Les
Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back..

Thank you, I’ll give it a try.

Well ... It sounds a bit like MERRANO OF THE DRY COUNTRY, a short story as well as a dramatized Audio Book.

When Miguel Merrano first came to Mirror Valley, the land was green and lush . . . and off limits to Mexicans. Ranchers such as Tom Drake and Joe Stangle tried to drive Merrano out, to fence him out; and whe he warned them that greed and overgrazing would ruin their land, they refused to listen.

Now Merrano's predictions have come true. Mirror Valley is so dry it's about to blow away. The cattle are hollow-ribbed and dying. And the ranchers are broke . . . flat broke. Only Merrano's ranch is still thriving. As the ranchers watch him pay for goods in gold and sell his cattle at a mighty profit, their hatred grows and festers . . . until they draw their guns in a desperate act that will pit daughter against father, friend against friend - an act that could tear the valley apart forever . . .

Short Story in COLLECTED SHORT STORIES VOL7 and in the smaller collection THE STRONG SHALL LIVE.

That's the story that had my vote.
Others with cave/ hidden access to pasture include Where the Long Grass Blows and Flint. I think Silver Canyon also had a hidden valley, and of course Showdown at Yellow Butte, but those were not pastures in the stories. Squatters on the Lonetree uses a secret notch through a mesa to access the ranch, but is not the only or even main route.
Secret or hidden valleys, canyons, or pastures were oft-used plot points for LL, but never seemed to come off as cliche.

Falcon

Thanks, I’ll try this one next.

Thanks for the help folks. It was Medrano of the Dry Country. Now I can finish my re-read through of the L’Amour catalogue.