Dreams of El Dorado : a history of the American West
(Book)

Part I. Napoleon's gift. The river at the heart of America ; The corps of discovery ; West by northwest ; To the Pacific

Part II. A skin for a skin. Astoria ; Comcomly's dismay ; The white-headed eagle ; Mountain man ; Colter's run ; Ursus horribilis

Part III. Gone to Texas. Moses Austin's dying wish ; Texas will be lost ; Ruin and redemption ; Victory or death ; Bloody Palm Sunday ; Laying there yet

Part IV. The great migration. The four wise men ; Females wanted ; Trapped out ; Waiilatpu ; For God and country ; The way west ; The business of the trail ; Desperate fury ; Ambassador from Oregon

Part V. The world in a nugget of gold. The secret of the Sierra Nevada ; Gold mountain ; Crime and punishment ; The spirit of '87 ; To be decently poor ; Where can we go?

Part VI. Steel rails and sharps rifles. Stephen Douglas's brainstorm ; North, south, west ; Free soil ; Hell on wheels ; Saints and sinners ; Once we were happy ; There would be no soldiers left ; Adobe walls ; Lost river ; The pride of Young Joseph

Part VII. The middle border. Abilene ; Hard lesson ; Into the great unknown ; The arid region ; More like us ; It grew very cold ; Less corn and more hell ; Bonanza

Part VIII. The cowboy in the White House. Rough riding ; West takes east ; Cashing in ; John Muir's last stand ; The long, long trail.