Legends and Tales of the American West

From Davy Crockett, Wild Bill Hickok, and Calamity Jane to Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and Frank and Jesse James, here are more than 130 colorful stories of the pioneers, cowboys, outlaws, gamblers, prospectors, and lawmen who settled the wild west, creating a uniquely American hero and an enduringly fascinating folk mythology.

In this wonderfully boisterous treasury of tall tales, everyone and everything is larger than life and bragging is elevated into an art form. Many of these stories are of real people and real events; more than a few, however, grew taller and funnier as they made their rounds from wagon train to campfire to rodeo to miners' quarters. But even if it is far from established that Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett were able to kill three men with one bullet or subdue ferocious grizzly bears with their fists, they come vividly to life here as beloved characters who have become part of the fabric of the American imagination.

With black-and white illustrations throughout
Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library

Author: Richard Erdoes
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: 09/01/1998
Pages: 464
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.46lbs
Size: 9.22h x 6.26w x 1.03d
ISBN13: 9780375702662
ISBN10: 0375702660
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Westerns | General
- Fiction | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
- Fiction | Action & Adventure

About the Author
Richard Erdoes is co-editor of American Indian Myths and Legends and the author of, among many other books, Lakota Woman; Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions; and Saloons of the Old West. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.