Relief shown by contours and hachures.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 278-279) and index.

A new perspective on the history of the West -- The native West -- A West before the West -- Seven cities of gold -- An English interloper -- The northern provinces of New Spain -- Other nations explore the West -- France in the West -- A river to the west -- A great land to the east -- The sea of the west -- Charting the West Coast -- The road to Manifest Destiny -- Before Lewis and Clark -- The Louisiana Purchase -- Ocean in view -- The great American desert -- Mountain men -- Russia in California -- The Mexican West -- The republic of Texas -- The Oregon question -- An American West -- The rush west -- Oregon and the Oregon Trail -- The Mormon trek -- California gold -- The Comstock lode -- Gold and silver -- War in the West -- Linking the West -- By stage and wagon and Pony Express -- Surveying a railroad -- A transcontinental railroad -- Opening the West -- The Kansas Pacific -- The Oregon Short Line -- A northwest link -- Southern lines -- More transcontinentals -- A mineral bonanza -- Liquid gold -- A unequal fight -- Settling and watering the West -- Subdividing the land -- A western utopia -- Reclaiming the dry lands -- Selling the West to settlers -- Science and surveys -- The political evolution of the West -- An urban West -- San Francisco and the Bay Area -- Los Angeles -- San Diego -- Central Valley cities -- Las Vegas -- The Pacific northwest -- Salt Lake City -- Arizona capitals -- Albuquerque -- Denver -- Colorado Springs -- The gateways to the Plains -- The cities of Texas -- Anchorage -- Selling the West -- Enticing the East West--tourism -- Send the West East--produce -- Opening the West-- yet more -- Good roads everywhere -- Distance tamed -- Want, water, and war -- The Depression years -- The big water projects -- The West at war -- The postwar West -- Railroads -- Freeways -- Escape -- Alaska -- Water--again -- Energy -- The fun West -- Retirement and resorts -- The West today -- Map catalog -- Sources of other illustrations -- Bibliography -- Index.