by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Although Walter Van Tilburg Clark was born into a family of academics, he was raised in an environment notorious for its lack of civilized behavior. From the moment his family moved to Reno, Nevada, in 1917, the eightyear- old Clark felt an immense appreciation for this region commonly known as the Great Basin. It would be an affinity he would constantly return to throughout the course of his life, both physically as well as in his writings. Of the books Clark has penned, many believe The Ox-Bow Incident to be one of the best examples of the unique relationship that Clark shared with his surroundings.

Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place

Nevada in the 1800s. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the land now known as Nevada was nothing more than a barren region...