Andy Adams' most popular novel, The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days, is a painstaking recreation of Adams' own experiences on long cattle drives. Legend has it that the long-time cowboy was disgusted with the overly romanticized Westerns that began appearing on bookstore shelves in the late 1800s and decided to set the record straight with his own account. Scholars and fans agree that the gritty realism of The Log of a Cowboy is second to none.