New in paperback What was achieved and destroyed, what was made up and forgotten in the American West as the continent was mapped, the natives were displaced, and exploits were transformed into legends? In this acclaimed collection, Larry McMurtry profiles explorers and martyrs, hucksters and scholars--figures in the West's enduring yet ever-shifting mixture of myth and reality. In these twelve pieces, McMurtry explores John Wesley Powell's journey on the Colorado, the dispossession of the Five Civilized Tribes, the fascination the Zuni held over a parade of unscrupulous anthropologists, and--in the bicentennial of their journey--the journals of Lewis and Clark, "our only really American epic."

A colorful account of five centuries of cowboy culture details the life, history, customs, status, job, equipment, and more of the cowboy from sixteenth-century Spanish Mexico to the present

Looking at the American West from a broad range of perspectives, an illustrated chronicle presents full portraits of the different peoples involved in the West's settlement, including Asians, Hispanics, and Africans, examining the social and economic forces behind the settlement.

Inspired by an exhibit of artifacts from the fur trade of the 1700s, this fascinating and attractive catalog includes a history of the fur trade and essays on various aspects of the early cross-cultural contacts between Indians and whites. Photos of tools, clothing, and trade items shown in the exhibit are accompanied by beautiful reproductions of eighteenth-century paintings and drawings, some in color.

Recreates the life of a Swiss-born Nebraska homesteader, while reflecting on the character of the people who shaped the American nation

A collection of firsthand accounts by pioneer women portrays the hardiness, perseverance, devotion, and ingenuity they displayed in the face of a lonely, dangerous, and exciting life

Written when Nelson was between the ages of 15 and 17, these journals track his growth from homesick boy to weathered and experienced trader. The volume also tells of his daily work as a fur clerk, and the goings-on of the world around him; and it provides details concerning the lives of the other fur workers and the neighboring Objiwa peoples. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

More than 130 colorful stories of the pioneers, cowboys, outlaws, gamblers, prospectors, and lawmen who settled the wild west and created a uniquely American folk mythology