Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938) was an American author and illustrator who had already established herself as an accomplished artist-illustrator in New York City when she married a young mining engineer in 1876 and moved cross-continent with him to numerous locations in the West as he pursued his career. She is best known for her stories depicting the rough, picturesque life she experienced and observed in the old West, many of which were illustrated with her own drawings. This collection of stories was first published in 1894.