Lin McLean

By Owen Wister and Frederic Remington

Book Overview

In "Lin McLean", Owen Wister presents a vivid and enduring portrait of the American West through the eyes of its titular protagonist. Set against the rugged backdrop of the Wyoming territory, this work follows the adventures and personal evolution of a young cowpuncher as he navigates the transitions of the frontier. Lin McLean is a quintessential Western hero-honest, wild, and deeply connected to the sprawling landscape he inhabits.

Through a series of interconnected episodes, the narrative explores themes of honor, friendship, and the inevitable shift from the lawless freedom of the range to a more settled way of life. Wister's masterful prose captures the unique dialect and spirit of the cowboy era, providing a realistic yet romanticized depiction of ranch life, cattle drives, and the social dynamics of isolated western outposts. As one of the foundational works of Western fiction, "Lin McLean" showcases the narrative skill that would later culminate in the author's most famous work, "The Virginian". Readers will find a compelling exploration of character growth set within a meticulously rendered historical environment, making it a cornerstone for anyone interested in the literary heritage of the American frontier.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025808991
• ISBN13: 9781025808994
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Inventing the cowboy hero . . .

Western writer Dane Coolidge observed that a copy of "Lin McLean" could be found in almost any bunkhouse across the West in the first decades of the twentieth century. Its cowboy hero, an early version of Wister's Virginian, who came along just a few years later, has the same boyish charm and natural nobility. Though he comes from Eastern stock, he's a son of the plains, a man of homespun character, mostly unschooled, but both fiercely egalitarian and gentlemanly. An excellent horseman, good with a gun, handsome and gallant in his courtship of women, he is respected by all. Generous to a fault, he also takes under his wing a boy who has run away from a home that we'd describe today as thoroughly dysfunctional. A series of short stories strung together into a novel, Wister's book is really a romance in a Western setting - the open range and frontier towns of Wyoming in the 1880s, an era already regarded as long past, just a decade later at the time of Wister's writing. There are no gunfights or outlaws. While the book is chiefly a portrayal of an admirable young man, its storyline has to do with the winning of a young woman's hand - two women, actually, each of whom betrays him, one for lack of principle and the other for principles too highly refined. Altogether, the book is an enjoyable and entertaining read that, besides its occasional quaintness, is fully enjoyable more than 100 years after its writing. Wister has a gift for both humor and poignancy, and while the realities of cowboying, homesteading, and working with cattle hardly get a mention, his depiction of the Old West ranges easily from farce to sentiment to the starkly grim. McLean's visit to Denver at Christmas suggests something of Dickens' London, and the account of a funeral comes as close as anything to black humor. As a precursor to Wister's bestseller "The Virginian," this book raises many issues that get fuller treatment in the later novel. There are even glimpses of the Virginian himself, who gets brief walk-ons, with references to his own longstanding courtship of the schoolmarm from Vermont. With both men, Wister did more than anyone to invent the cowboy hero as he came to be known by everyone, from the bunkhouse to the parlor and eventually to the movie screen.