The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains is a 1902 novel by the American author Owen Wister set in Wyoming Territory during the 1880's. It describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch and is considered the first true fictional western ever written, aside from short stories and pulp dime novels. The Virginian paved the way for many more westerns by such authors as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and several others. The Virginian is a ranch hand at the Sunk Creek Ranch, located outside of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. He is always referred to as the Virginian, and no name is mentioned throughout the story.