In 1991, the year of his death, A. B. Guthrie Jr. received the tribute of having his first major novel, The Big Sky (1947), chosen as the best novel of the American West in a poll of the members of the Western Literature Association. Just as The Big SkyThe Big Sky remains the definitive account of the mountain-man era in American history, its Pulitzer Prize-winning sequel, The Way West (1949), remains the definitive account of the wagon-train experience. In a 1949 interview Guthrie said, "I want to try to interpret American life to the American people," and for the historical periods and the geographical regions on which his work has focused, Guthrie is acknowledged to have few--if any--rivals.

The qualities that make The Big Sky and The Way West the outstanding accounts of their periods of American history are qualities found in all of Guthrie's work: attention to historical accuracy; love...