Tales from the American Frontier

Originally published as Tales from the American Frontier in 1991, this collection of the Wild West's equivalent of "urban legends" is a hoot and a holler. Laugh at the tale of "The Young Man Who Wanted to Be Snakebit" (for a shot of whiskey was the local snakebite antidote), shudder at the mention of "The Headless Horseman of the Mother Lode," and marvel at the "hoop snake," a 6-foot-long wonder that can bite its own tail and roll after its prey--although a 15-foot catfish can swallow it whole. These tall tales are rather boisterous and do not always treat the West's Native American and Latino inhabitants with sensitivity--which means, of course, that they accurately capture the spirit of the era.