Healy's West

When Healy pans for Idaho gold, descends the Missouri River, tames wild Alberta mustangs, stares down Montana outlaws, equips Klondike prospectors, or promotes the untapped potential of Alaska, you can't help but admire him. Healy's West: The Life and Times of John J. Healy demonstrates how this man's colorful and enterprising life helped to shape the American and Canadian West.

Although he was never immortalized in a dime novel of Hollywood western, John J. Healy (1840-1908) was one of the most influential figures of the westward movement. From Irish famine to army saddle, from taking on powerful monopolies to trading with the Blackfoot, from political maneuvering to hunting down rustlers behind a sheriff's badge, Healy challenged life, nature, enemies, and governments head on.

In his own time, Healy was inflated to heroic myth be some and derides as a controversial agent of change by others. Healy's West: The Life and Times of John J. Healy demonstrates, he was both. This is the most complete and truly balanced account of Healy's life ever published. An entertaining and critical portrayal of the West's most charismatic figure, Healy's West is a must ready for anyone interested in Western U.S. History.