The West of the bad man period, of the Vigilantes, of fortunes won and lost, of gambling and religious fanaticism and the spirit of pioneers. This is no rose-colored picture of the frontier. Even Ann Carmeny, the heroine, is no plaster saint -- in fact, I'd put my money on her gambler husband, who rescued her from a band of Mormon toughs, out for her gold, married her -- and then, with a smile and a heartache, waited her whims and pleasures. Hoffman Birney wrote a graphic tale of the Donner Party in Grim Journey. This is equally good history and better story.