Elinore Pruitt, a widow and mother who washed clothes for a living in Denver, planned to work as a housekeeper for some rancher while learning all she would need to know about homesteading a place for herself. In 1909 she went to work for Clyde Stewart, whose ranch was near Burnt Fork, Wyoming, and within six weeks she married him. “Ranch work seemed to require that we be married first and do our sparking afterward,” she wrote Juliet Coney, her former employer. She maintained her independence by filing on a quarter section adjacent to her husband’s land and proving it up herself. Her delightful letters, written from the time of her arrival until 1913, authentically depict an Old West that, as Jessamyn West notes in her foreword, has been “progressively obscured by those who portray it most often.”

The critically acclaimed 1980 film Heartland was based on Elinore Pruitt Stewart’s letters and journals.

Seven species of trout swim in the mountain streams, alpine lakes, rivers, and reservoirs of Wyoming. Other species found in the state include kokanee salmon, walleye, and pan-sized bass. From the sagebrush flats to the alpine basins, there are abundant waters to fish. You can reach some of them in your care. For the others, a requisite hike holds promise of solitude and hungry prey.

Kenneth Graham knows these waters well and has collected details to help anglers plan a great trip. In Fishing Wyoming, he provides advice on where and when to fish, how to get there, and what kind of gear proves most effective for reeling in the catch. Graham describes more than 200 Wyoming fishing holes, including the best in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

The book includes maps to help locate the sites, black-and-white photos, and descriptions of the 21 fish species you’ll find in Wyoming.

If you’re angling in Wyoming, this book will help you find the best waters and find the fish.

Turquoise. What other gemstone comes in such an astonishing variety of colors and forms, or is more evocative of the American Southwest?

Turquoise Unearthed showcases exquisite examples of rough and polished natural turquoise from more that twenty famous “classic” mines, including Lander Blue, Number 8, Bisbee, and Lone Mountain. Appealing to rock hounds and serious collectors alike, Turquoise Unearthed is a definitive, contemporary visual guide.

Here, too, are spectacular works by modern jewelers, along with fascinating ancient and historic Native American turquoise jewelry and ceremonial objects.

Badmen thrived in Wyoming Territory, but law and legal processes also existed. The frontier was so “civilized” that those men sentenced to hand were allowed to issue formal invitations to their executions.

Read of crimes, investigations, lawmen, capture, legal maneuvers, trails and deaths of the seven men legally hanged in Wyoming Territory.

Most of the fifty-five men who pinned on stars were simply good citizens who carried out the routine duties of office-maintaining order, collecting taxes and liquor license fees, inspecting chimneys, and running the county jail. Some rose to the occasion when faced with adversity. Others arranged to be out of town.

The fifty-five territorial sheriffs of Wyoming helped shape the history of the territory and the state it became.

Soiled Doves tells of the grey world of prostitution and the women who participated n the oldest profession. Colorful, if not socially acceptable, these ladies of easy virtue were a definite part of the early West – Wearing ruffled petticoats with fancy bows, they were glamorous and plain, good and bad and many were as wild as the land they came to tame.

Women like “Molly b’Dam,” Mattie Silks, and “Chicago Joe” blended into the fabric of the American Frontier with an easy familiarity. Others, such as “Sorrel Mike,” escaped through suicide, Lottie Johl chose marriage and the Chinese slave girls lived a life without hope.