Which 1902 novel by Owen Wister is often called the first major modern Western?

Owen Wister’s 1902 novel often called the first major modern Western is The Virginian.

The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains was published in 1902 and is set largely in Wyoming during the late nineteenth century. Its unnamed central character is a cowboy who becomes involved in a conflict over cattle theft, justice, and loyalty.

Wister drew on his travels in the American West and helped establish conventions later associated with Western fiction, including the lone cowboy hero, the frontier code, and the contrast between settled society and open range life. The novel’s opening line, “When you call me that, smile,” became especially famous.

The book was influential but also controversial. Modern readers and scholars note its romanticized portrayal of the West and its treatment of Native American and ethnic characters. It is distinct from Zane Grey’s 1912 novel Riders of the Purple Sage, another landmark Western.