A collection of rare mysteries and "cold cases" from the American West explores such legends as the suspicious death of Meriwether Lewis, the demise of Billy the Kid, and the relationship between Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

"Gold! Gold on the American River!" This declaration, shouted in the streets of San Francisco in the spring of 1848, electrified the nation, and its echo was heard in the farthest corners of the globe. In the five years that followed, tens of thousands of hopeful argonauts made their way to the vast territory on the Pacific conquered by the United States in its recent war with Mexico. They traveled overland from the Missouri River, their ox-drawn...

The American West. Just as America attracted millions to her shores by building upon a foundation of freedom, democracy, and a new start, the lands beyond the Mississippi would also attract people from all over the world with visions of opportunity and wide open spaces and provide America with legends and myths that have yet to die. In Westward, the history of the Old American West unfolds in twenty-eight original stories written especially for this...

Contains twelve short Western fiction stories by a variety of authors including Louis L'Amour, Elmer Kelton, Peggy Simson Curry, and others.