A collection of ten true stories from the era of westward expansion.

Big river : Lewis and Clark descend the Columbia (1805) -- No water : Jedediah Smith crosses the desert (1826) -- Independence day : Narcissa and Eliza cross the Rockies (1836) -- I have found it! : James Marshall discovers gold (1848) -- Blood on the trail : the Grattan fight (1854) -- They're off! : First ride of the Pony Express (1860) -- A railroad to the moon : completion of the transcontinental railroad (1869) -- We shoot, we ride fast, we shoot again : the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) -- Throw up your hands! : showdown in Tombstone (1881) -- Gold! Gold! Gold! : the Klondike stampede (1897).