cover cloth faded and a few spots. edge and corner wear. end page shadow. page edge nicks, yellowing and light foxing. no marks on text. color washed from dustjacket spine. edges rubbed, tattered and torn, smudges and spots, and price clipped.

1960 Clarkson N. Potter hardcover. 333 pages.  1/2" x 5 3/4".

The new novel by the author of many books  about the West is a moving reconstruction of events that actually took place. The scene is Nebraska - the valley of the Platte - in the early homesteading days. The people are Cozards - John Jaskson Cozard, the best faro player in America, whose ambition was to found a town whee there would be no gambling, ans his son Robert, who under the name of Robert Henri was to grow up to become one of America's most important painters and teachers. Then there are the pioneers, who fought the elements, the enemy cattlemen under their leader, Print Olive, and finally themselves. This is the story of the classic American Struggles, of the gambler's attempt to build a clean town, of the pioneers fighting drought and fire and grasshoppers to survive. and of the homesteaders against the cattlemen and the open range against fences. John Cozard bought 40,000 acres of land near the 100th meridian in the Platte Valley after the railroad,  had been there, and his sons, Robert and John, grew up, poured his money and energy into bringing people to his town, and helping them to get a start. Here is a vivid picture of the trials, frustrations, and dangers they faced. Here is a moving description of how a proud man brought about his own downfall and how, ironically, the people in his own town were the ones who, in the end, forced him into  a crisis and forced his wife and son into one of the most unusual and hazardous adventures that have ever actually happened.