Robert Lee Murphy

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Robert Lee Murphy’s Eagle Talons, The Iron Horse Chronicles—Book One, the first book in a trilogy, follows the adventures of Will Braddock, a fourteen-year-old orphan, who sets out in 1867 on a quest to determine his own destiny and winds up being involved in the building of the first transcontinental railroad. Will must prove to his newfound fictional friends, as well as numerous historical personages, that he possesses the gumption to make his own way in the dangerous West. He learns after many hard knocks that he must rely upon himself to achieve his goal. 

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The second book in The Iron Horse Chronicles, Bear Claws, takes Will across Wyoming, through Utah and Nevada, and on into the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in 1868. 

Golden Spike concludes the trilogy. The driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit in Utah on May 10, 1869, almost didn’t happen. None of the history books mention this crucial event. Only five people were aware of the incident. Will Braddock knew. He was one of those five. It all started when Paddy O’Hannigan attacked Will; his uncle, Sean Corcoran; and Homer Garcon, in Echo City, Utah, four months earlier. When Will chases after Paddy, the Irish thug traps Will into a bigger mess. 

Robert graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a business degree, then spent seven years in the Army during the Cold War. Throughout his civilian career, he worked with international organizations on all seven continents, including Antarctica, where Murphy Peak bears his name. He sold his first article, illustrated with his own photographs, many years ago to Backpacker Magazine. Subsequently, he published technical articles in various trade journals and magazines, such as Military Engineer. The Gettysburg Magazine included his annotated Civil War cavalry article about the Union’s three boy generals, George Armstrong Custer, Wesley Merritt, and Elon Farnsworth, in its July 2011 issue.

For The Iron Horse Chronicles, Robert traveled the route of the transcontinental railroad and walked the ground where the action takes place. He particularly relished his visits to the museums and historical parks along the way. His approach to writing is to engage his fictional characters with historical people at the times they are engaged in actual, historic events in order to ensure adherence to an accurate time line.

Robert is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, Western Writers of America, and the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. To learn more about him and his writing visit his website.