Michael Wallis

Michael Wallis, historian and biographer of the American West, explores how the West of myth and the West of reality collided and became one in a free Friday lecture.

Wallis’ talk, titled “The Creation of the Wild West,” begins at 4 p.m. Friday at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody.

“The so-called ‘Wild West’ draws visitors from around the world who travel the western United States in search of the adventures chronicled in books and films, played out by cowboys, Indians, outlaws, and heroes,” says Wallis. He cites the well-known line from the John Ford film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: “Sir, this is the West. When the fact becomes legend, print the legend.”

Wallis’s talk delves into this romanticized tradition on which authors and filmmakers based — and continue to base — their work on the American West.

“There is a line between acknowledging the legend and presenting the genuine article,” he says. Wallis considers it his job to sort out reality from myth, and present “a true picture of the American West — warts and all.”

Wallis is a historian and biographer of the American West. He has published 19 books, including the award-winning “Route 66: The Mother Road,” which is credited with sparking the resurgence of interest in the highway, and “The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny.”

Wallis has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, and once for a National Book Award. In 2016, he received an Emmy Award for his work in the documentary film Boomtown. Other prestigious honors include the Will Rogers Spirit Award, the Western Heritage Award, the Best Western Nonfiction Award and the first John Steinbeck Award.

Also an internationally known speaker and voice talent, his distinctive voice can be heard in Pixar Studio’s 2006 animated feature film “Cars.” He is a co-founder of the non-profit preservation organization the Route 66 Alliance and is an advocate for all historic roads and trails.