Another of Wright's books deals with man's responsibility for his environment. In The Man Who Went Away (1934), his final book, he wove the plot around preserving the giant redwood trees of northern California. Again, he researched his book carefully, relying heavily on the help of a zoologist to ensure the integrity of his work.

When a Man's a Man (1916), one of Wright's best-sellers, develops the principle of manhood. Just as the Easterner Willard Holmes found the qualities of manhood within himself through the influence of Barbara Worth and her father, Honorable Patches, an alias for a wealthy young man from the East, found the true meaning of manhood in the West among the cowboys on the ranch where he worked.