There is a romanticism associated with the gunslinging cowboy defending his land and his moral code, reinforced in novels such as Owen Wister's The Virginian of 1902 and in films such as John Ford's Stagecoach of 1939. American culture has been defined by the west, and the American dream evolved from it; the pioneering days of the gold rush and the growth of towns such as Las Vegas illustrate the mantra that anything is possible.

Dead Eagle Trail is the culmination of numerous road trips Jane Hilton has taken across the States. It is a celebration of the west, from the buckaroos of Nevada to the cowpunchers of Arizona, with the men recorded in their own homes, surrounded by western artefacts: the need to hold onto a heritage is clearly visible. As the price of petrol and animal feed rises, the ranches struggle to survive, and the cowboy of the twenty-first century could become extinct.