Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-238) and index.

"The lure of adventure and riches brought men west. Some had dreams of a quick gold strike and a life of ease. Some were lone explorers drawn to this vast and unknown land. Still others were homesteaders eager to put down new roots with their families. Although some returned back east, worn out by hardship, many more forged places for themselves on America's new frontier as cowboys and farmers, bachelors and fathers, outlaws and lawmen." "Cathy Luchetti, captures the great struggles of being a pioneer as well as the difficult process of settling in. She uses the words of the men themselves, drawn from letters, diaries, and memoirs - not only the iconic cowboys of our imagination but also the doctors, teachers, farmers, and ministers who shaped the culture of the West. With photographs that bring these men to life and quotations that come from their hard-won experience, Luchetti portrays sodbusters, six-shooters, farmers, and vendors, as well as frontiersmen from the East, the immigrants from abroad, and the Native Americans whose lives were changed forever by their arrival."--BOOK JACKET