Author Michael Rountree
Dear Gunpowder fan,
Growing up in central Texas, mostly around Brady and Ballinger,
I was extremely fortunate to have one of the best child-hoods. The
internet and video games weren’t around yet, so after I got off the
school bus, I would grab a snack, saddle my horse, and be gone until
dark on most days.
My imagination would lead me to imitate what I had watched on
the most recent cowboy movie. I rode through miles of mesquite
trees and prickly pear cactus, chasing and roping wild cattle, and
fighting outlaws. My dad, a horse trainer and a farrier or horse
shoer, and my mom, a ranch girl and business owner, made sure I was well stocked with my best friends, my horses and dogs.
Fast forward many years, after a Masters degree in Education, marriage, and a family and I’m reading with one of my fifth-grade students. I can’t remember if it was Ole Yeller or Where the Red Fern Grows, but it dawned on me, that if I put some memories and thoughts together, maybe I could have enough for a book and sure enough, it happened, then again, and then a 3rd one in the Gunpowder series. I hope I never stop writing them.
I believe this is year 24 in my teaching career and I have taught 4th through 12th grade, mostly Reading and Social Studies. I’ve always tried to find that common link between two of my loves, horses and teaching. I can’t express the feeling a teacher gets when one of their students says, “I love to read!” Jennifer, my wife and fourth grade teacher, and I live on a 100 acre ranch northwest of Spearman, Texas where we enjoy our horses, dogs, chickens, and garden.
I hope you enjoy reading about Gunpowder, Conrad, and all their friends on the Mesquite Bean Ranch and Cowboy School. I would love to hear from you with any questions or comments. Just drop me an email at
Michael Rountree
Author of Gunpowder

"When rough times crop up, we work together as a family to pitch in and get through those rough times- Herman, Anne, Conrad, and me, Gunpowder."