Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton

Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

William Johnson accepts a dare to accompany Professor Marsh West, but the paranoid Marsh is convinced that Johnson is a spy for Professor Cope and leaves him stranded in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Professor Cope comes to Johnson's rescue and after undergoing many hardships, some caused by Professor Marsh Cope and his company find the teeth of a large unknown dinosaur and many other scientifically important fossils.

And the end of the season they start to leave for home and Johnson, Little Wind (their Indian Scout), Toad and Cookie are sent back to get the crates that were left behind. Learning that the Sioux are close by Cookie plots to steal Toad and Johnson's horses leaving Toad and Johnson with the wagon while he and Little Wind race back to safety on the horses. But the Sioux pursue Cookie and when he arrives back in town near death he tells Cope that everyone is dead. Little Wind went back to help Toad and Johnson, and manages to save Johnson's life by driving the wagon into the Badlands. Toad and Little Wind die before they reach Deadwood and Johnson is marooned there with the bones without any money. He soon discovers that he can put his photography skills to use and saves up enough money to leave town.

Unfortunately he runs afoul of one of the local town bullies and has to face him down in a gunfight. He wounds the bully, but due to a serious threat of revenge he ask for Wyatt Earp's help getting to Laramie. When they run into Marsh, Marsh tries to buy the bones from Wyatt Earp (who agreed to help in return for half the bones) giving Johnson time to hide the bones and substitute rocks in the crates. Marsh leaves town with the crates of "rocks" after buying them from Wyatt Earp. All is going smoothly until Johnson is arrested for the murder of William Johnson. When Johnson telegraphed his Father asking for funds, his Father thought someone was impersonating his dead son and telegraphed the sheriff to arrest him. Johnson manages to get a deputy to send a second telegraph to his Father with things only he would know and the mistake is cleared up.

Finally Johnson is able to take the bones to Cope in Philadelphia and return to Yale and collect his winnings from the dare.

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