Don Wildman

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Here we are, sometime in, say, late 1880s, in a roughshod town on the dry, dusty plains of the American West.

Here in this saloon, the bartender slings bourbon shots, gamblers lean over their cards, laughter drifts down from the girls on the balcony, when suddenly, two hard-eyed men square off over a pile of poker chips.

One backs away, swaggering through the swinging doors.

The other follows, and a minute later, they're both in the street facing each other at a distance, hands hovering over their holstered guns.

This is the Wild West as we often imagine it, the one we think we know.

Meanwhile, out there on the edge of town, another drama unfolds.

Surveyors hammer stakes into the ground.