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 the foreman of the Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming, it was the first true western written, aside from the tiny dime novels. It paved the way for many more westerns by famous authors such as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, and several others.