Grace McClure has created an even-handed account of the Bassets. Drawing on interviews with surviving family, friends and enemies, on memoirs, and on oral and written records from local libraries, newspapers, and archives she presents believable, life-size characters who respond realistically to the demands of pioneer life. The Bassett Women is one of the few creditable accounts of early settlers on Colorado's western slope, one of the last strongholds of the Old West.