From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   Thanks for the reference.   
      
   I think The American West is most valuable for what it intended to do -   
   to provide a view of how the West was represented, not always as it was.   
   Of course, some of the illustrations are clearly by artists who had   
   never been farther west than Philadephia, and some of them obviously   
   hadn't even ever seen a credible representation of what they depict.   
      
   And modern readers also have to sort out from among 19th century western   
   stereotypes, 19th century reality and 20th century stereotypical   
   representations of the old west.   
      
   If was first being published to day, it would likely be titled, "How the   
   West Was Drawn."   
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)