Peter Watts' stated purpose was to create a guide for the readers of Western Americana - to identify the words and phrases used in the Old West during the period 1850-1900. He furnishes the "how" and "why" of standard range words such as: roping, brands, saddles, trail drives, and so forth.

Watts faced several obstacles in the preparation of this book. A major obstacle was separating words, which originated in the writings and communications of the twentieth century, from those which were actually used on the western frontier. Watts freely admits he wasn't always successful in separating genuine words from admixed and adulterated words.

Another problem was the discovery that 19th century records, diaries, et. al., listing eyewitness' accounts of historical events, contained an abundance of misspelled or inaccurate words and phrases. Watts offers little help in proper pronunciation because there is no way of knowing how some words were pronounced by people long dead. In their lifetimes, the western pioneers heard various colloquialisms, sometimes incorrectly, and often mangled words and their meaning when making conversation or when keeping diaries and other records.

Another factor was the polygot population inherent on the American frontier. Anglo- Saxons brought English and Celtic words to the United States, some of which were further influenced by the speech and pronunciation used by Africans, Spaniards, and people of French descent. Gold seekers from Europe, American Indians, Metis, Dutch, Swedes, Swiss, and many other races also contributed to the words and phrases used throughout the Old West.

Cattle range words generally originated with the Mexican vaquero. These words were changed, twisted, and combined with English by the American Cowboy into the range language often used today. Language grows healthy and powerful with the infusion of words from the various strata of a society and this held true in frontier America. Watts contends the educated class causes a language to lose its rich taste, its contact with all the people, and its very means of renewal unless lower class words are continually being added.

This book is incomplete but not by design. It was an impossible task to capture every frontier word and phrase; however, Watts has done an admirable job under the circumstances. He used reliable sources such as Andy Adams and Ramon Adams, used a number of dictionaries, and read the works of western fiction writers Wister, Haycox, Grey, L'Amour, Short, et al., in order to identify crucial words used in the Old West.

This is a pretty good book which will prove of immediate value to readers interested in Western Americana. Watts' book is as complete and as accurate as time and circumstances have allowed.