This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Owen Wister (1860–1938) was an American writer and “father” of western fiction. When he started writing, he naturally inclined towards fiction set on the western frontier. Wister's most famous work remains the novel The Virginian, set in the Wild West. It describes the life of a cowboy who is a natural aristocrat, set against a highly mythologized version of the Johnson County War and taking the side of the large land owners. The Virginian paved the way for many more westerns by such authors as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, and several others. It is also widely regarded as being the first cowboy novel. Table of Contents: The Dragon of Wantley Lin McLean The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains Philosophy 4: A Story of Harvard University Lady Baltimore Padre Ignacio: or, the Song of Temptation Red Man and White Little Big Horn Medicine Specimen Jones The Serenade At Siskiyuo The General's Bluff Salvation Gap The Second Missouri Compromise La Tinaja Bonita A Pilgrim on the Gila The Jimmyjohn Boss A Kinsman of Red Cloud Sharon's Choice Napoleon Shave-Tail Twenty Minutes for Refreshments The Promised Land Hank's Woman Mother How Doth the Simple Spelling Bee Non-Fiction: Musk-Ox, Bison, Sheep and Goat The Pentecost of Calamity A Straight Deal; Or, The Ancient Grudge
