Oregon in the 1840s, with many of the former trappers working as scouts and guides after the fur trade collapsed due to over-hunting of beaver and changes in fashion. Reception The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1948 and was adapted as an eponymous 1951 film starring Clark Gable. References History books about the American Old West 1947 non-fiction books Pulitzer Prize for History-winning works Fur trade Non-fiction books adapted into films Houghton Mifflin books Bancroft Prize-winning works