The Virginian (otherwise titled The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains) is a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister. Describing the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, it was the first true western written, aside from short stories and pulp dime novels. It paved the way for many more westerns by famous authors such as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, and several others.