When Agnes Morley Cleaveland was born on a New Mexico cattle ranch in 1874, the term "Wild West" was a reality, not a cliche. In those days cowboys didn't know they were pic-turesque, horse rustlers were to be handled as seemed best on the occasion, and young ladies thought nothing of punching cows and hunting grizzlies in between school terms. "Mrs. Cleaveland's personal history of her experiences is "topnotch Americana, honestly and entertainingly told". ("The New Yorker"). "The author's reminiscences make vivid the everyday details of the cattle industry from the earliest days of the open range. For that reason they not only make hair-raising and spine-tingling narrative but also a document of history". ("Atlantic Monthly"). "Under Mrs. Cleaveland's hand, the whole brightly hued pattern of cow-country life of the latter half of the last century emerges with clarity. She regrets the changes that come with the years, the invasion of the country by literati and tourists, the theatrical changes in cowboys, the part the government has played in the division and control of the land. But her regret is not bitter; the humor and good sense and philosophy that characterize all her reactions are not absent in her critical judgment". ("New York Times"). "Authentic, well written, and, in many passages, downright charming...Nothing quite like it has come out of the southwest". ("New York Herald Tribune Books").