The Taming of the West: A Photographic Perspective by David R. Phillips and Robert A. Weinstein.

Henry Regnery, 1974.  First edition, first printing. 232 pages, large hardcover (10.75 X 13.75 in.), in black cloth profusely illustrated with remarkable black and white photographs.  Large quarto, very good with very good protected price-clipped dust jacket.  Despite title, includes a few photos of the Eastern United States, including New York.  Photographers include E.E. Henry, Harrison Putney, Horace Stevenson, Joseph E. Smith, Silas and Lewis Melander, N.A. Forsyth, B.W. Kilburn, Capelin and Melander, Silas Melander, Edwin Rew, Burke & Koretke, et al. Summary:

The Taming of the West: A Photographic Perspective by David R. Phillips and Robert A. Weinstein is a historical photography book that explores how the American West changed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The book presents more than 200 historical photographs that document the expansion and development of the West. These images show many aspects of frontier life, including westward migration, mining and gold rush settlements, Native American communities, frontier towns, and farming and ranching landscapes.

Organized into themed sections such as “The Way West,” “Golden Alaska,” “The Native Americans,” and “The Bountiful Land,” the photographs illustrate how settlers, industries, and technology gradually transformed the region from a largely unsettled frontier into an organized and economically productive society.

Through commentary accompanying the photographs, the authors explain the historical context of the images and show how photography helps reveal everyday life and major events during the period of western expansion.

In short:
The book uses historical photographs and commentary to show how exploration, settlement, and development gradually “tamed” the American West, turning it from frontier wilderness into a settled and cultivated region.