Long before the X-Files, nearly 70 years before Roswell, President James Garfield, mortally wounded by an assassin's bullet, summoned a young, educated Cherokee half-breed, Jonah "Ten Killer" Montana, to his seaside retreat to launch a campaign to investigate unexplained and troublesome mysteries plaguing the post Civil War nation. Mysterious "airships" were being sighted, tales of strange and often alien creatures were threatening to hamper the spread of civilization westward, fantastic supernatural tales of Indian lore were frightening settlements, and there were rumors of a diabolical secret plot to disrupt the Young Republic's very existence through conspiracies and key assassinations in a diabolical plan to change the face of a fledging nation and establish a One World Order masterminded by a diabolical and ancient alien race. Montana is charged by the President with initiating a campaign to uncover the truth behind America's most puzzling and threatening mysteries, and to report directly to the nation's chief executive. With the counsel of his grandfather, a full blood Cherokee elder and spiritual leader with ancient knowledge and unexplained abilities, and with the assistance of the beautiful and adventurous Molly Langtry whose uncle has been institutionalized after an alien encounter, Montana begins the task of chasing down monstrous creatures in the mountains, troubled spirits and ghosts among the native tribes, and searches for the origin of the flying ships and the strange creatures said to pilot them across the blue skies of the American West. Underlying his mission is the task of uncovering a growing conspiracy by a secret organization with designs to bring down America's government and undermine its quest for a free and democratic society. Join Jonah Montana on his journey across America's colorful Old West as he investigates the nation's most complex mysteries, alien encounters, dark conspiracies and strange tales of monsters, ghosts and the unexplained. Close Encounters of the Old West is based on actual documented incidents of 19th Century America and dramatized to provide the reader a roller coaster ride of suspense and action with colorful characters and historical references, complete with a comprehensive appendix outlining real historical accounts of alien sightings and encounters and Native American myths and legends and how they relate to more modern reports of alien interaction and UFO sightings and how they shed light on the gr