genre the virginian 
Montana is a state in the ___MASK12___ region of the United States . The state ' s name is derived from the Spanish word ( mountain ). Montana has several nicknames , although none official , including " Big Sky ___MASK96___ " and " The Treasure State ", and slogans that include " Land of the Shining Mountains " and more recently " The Last Best Place ". Montana has a border with three Canadian provinces : British Columbia , Alberta , and Saskatchewan , the only state to do so . It also borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east , Wyoming to the south , and Idaho to the west and southwest . Montana is ranked 4th in size , but 44th in population and 48th in population density of the 50 United States . The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges . Smaller island ranges are found throughout the state . In total , 77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains . The eastern half of Montana is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands . The American Frontier comprises the ___MASK36___ , ___MASK62___ , folklore , and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of American expansion that began with English colonial settlements in the early 18th century and ended with the admission of the last mainland territories as states in 1912 . " Frontier " refers to a contrasting region at the edge of a European - American line of settlement . American historians cover multiple frontiers but the folklore is focused primarily on the 19th century west of the Mississippi River . Enormous popular attention in the media focuses on the Western United States in the second half of the 19th century , a period sometimes called the Old West , or the Wild West , frequently exaggerating the ___MASK49___ and violence of the period . Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the ___MASK12___ United States . The state is the tenth largest by area , the least populous and the second least densely populated state in the ___MASK96___ . Wyoming is bordered on the north by Montana , on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska , on the south by Colorado , on the southwest by Utah , and on the west by Idaho . Cheyenne is the capital and the most populous city in Wyoming , with a population estimate of 63 , 335 in 2015 . The state population was estimated at 586 , 107 in 2015 , which is less than the population of 31 of the largest U . S . cities . The Virginian ( otherwise titled The Virginian : A Horseman of the Plains ) is a 1902 ___MASK29___ set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister . It describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch in Wyoming and was the first true western ever written , aside from short stories and pulp dime novels . The Virginian paved the way for many more westerns by such authors as Zane Grey , Louis L ' Amour , and several others . Louis Dearborn L ' Amour ( 22 ___MASK88___ 1908  10 June 1988 ) was an American novelist and ___MASK69___ writer . His books consisted primarily of Western novels ( though he called his work ' frontier stories '); however , he also wrote historical ___MASK42___ (" The Walking Drum "), ___MASK44___ (" The Haunted Mesa "), non - ___MASK42___ (" Frontier "), as well as poetry and short - story collections . Many of his stories were made into film . John Wayne once said he was the most interesting man in the world . L ' Amour ' s books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings . At the time of his death almost all of his 105 existing works ( 89 novels , 14 short - story collections , and two full - length works of nonfiction ) were still in print , and he was considered " one of the world ' s most popular writers ". The Walking Drum is a ___MASK29___ by the American author Louis L ' Amour . Unlike most of his other novels ( whose number exceeds 100 ), " The Walking Drum " is not set in the frontier era of the American West , but rather is an ___MASK92___ set in the Middle Ages  12th century Europe and the Middle East . ___MASK12___ ___MASK42___ is a ___MASK4___ of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century . Well - known writers of ___MASK12___ ___MASK42___ include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and Louis L ' Amour from the mid 20th century . The ___MASK4___ peaked around the early 1960s , largely due to the popularity of televised Westerns such as " Bonanza ". Readership began to drop off in the mid - to late 1970s and has reached a new low in the 2000s . Most bookstores , outside of a few west American states , only carry a small number of ___MASK12___ ___MASK42___ books . Riders of the Purple Sage is a ___MASK8___ by Zane Grey , first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912 . Considered by many critics to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre , the novel has been called " the most popular ___MASK8___ of all time ." Utah ( or ) is a state in the ___MASK12___ United States . It became the 45th state admitted to the U . S . on January 4 , 1896 . Utah is the 13th - largest by area , 31st - most - populous , and 10th - least - densely populated of the 50 United States . Utah has a population of more than 3 million ( Census estimate for July 1 , 2016 ), approximately 80 % of whom live along the Wasatch Front , centering on the state capital Salt Lake City . Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east , Wyoming to the northeast , Idaho to the north , Arizona to the south , and Nevada to the west . It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast . Pearl Zane Grey ( January 31 , 1872  October 23 , 1939 ) was an American dentist and author best known for his popular ___MASK72___ novels and stories associated with the Western ___MASK4___ in literature and the arts ; he idealized the American frontier . " Riders of the Purple Sage " ( 1912 ) was his best - selling book . In addition to the commercial success of his printed works , they had second lives and continuing influence when adapted as films and television productions . His novels and short stories have been adapted into 112 films , two television episodes , and a television series , " Dick Powell ' s Zane Grey Theater ". Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the ___MASK12___ edge of the Great Plains . Colorado is part of the ___MASK12___ United States , the Southwestern United States , and the Mountain States . Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 22nd most populous of the 50 United States . The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5 , 456 , 574 on July 1 , 2015 , an increase of 8 . 50 % since the 2010 United States Census . Owen Wister ( July 14 , 1860  July 21 , 1938 ) was an American writer and " father " of ___MASK12___ ___MASK42___ . He is best remembered for writing " The Virginian ", although he never wrote about the West afterwards .