J. Frank Dobie, in his Guide to Life and Literature of the Old Southwest, has declared that "if all other books on trail-driving were destroyed, a reader could still get a just and authentic conception of trail men, trail work, range cattle, cow horses, and the cow country in general from The Log of a Cowboy." First published in 1903, Andy Adams' classic narrative, based on his own experiences during the days of the "long drive," continues to be used and cited by historians of the Old West as the best and most reliable account of its kind. The Bison Book edition is reproduced from the first...

This classic novel, first published in 1906 and based on Mary Austin's own experiences, captures the way of life of shepherds in the Sierra. Austin blends natural history, politics, and allegory in a genre-blurring narrative, championing local shepherds in their losing battle against the quickly developing tourist business in the Western Sierra during the nineteenth century. Austin had met many shepherds while visiting the Tejon ranches of Edward Beale and Henry Miller, and cultivated relationships with men others often thought of as ignorant, unambitious, and dirty, listening closely to...