Wonderful book.

set in the Wyoming territory during the late 1870s and 1880s. Courageous but mysterious cowboy known only as the 'Virginian' works as a foreman of a Wyoming cattle ranch. He meets a pretty schoolteacher Molly Wood from Vermont. She introduces him the works of Sir Walter Scott, Shakespeare, and Keats. The Virginian is forced to preside over the hanging of his best friend Steve, who has been accused and convicted of cattle rustling. Molly is horrified and Judge Henry, the Virginian's employer, explains her the code of the West. However, their marriage is threatened by Trampas, who also works on the farm. He vows to gun down the Virginian, whose honor in now at stake.

Source – but spoileriffic, so don't click through this one if you haven't read the book.