Part I. Napoleon's gift. River at the heart of America ; Corps of discovery ; West by northwest ; To the Pacific -- Part II. A skin for a skin. Astoria ; Comcomly's dismay ; 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. Great migration. Four wise men ; Females wanted ; Trapped out ; Waiilatpu ; For God and country ; Way west ; Business of the trail ; Desperate fury ; Ambassador from Oregon -- Part V. World in a nugget of gold. Secret of the Sierra Nevada ; Gold mountain ; Crime and punishment ; 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 ; Pride of Young Joseph -- Part VII. Middle border. Abilene ; Hard lesson ; Into the great unknown ; Arid region ; More like us ; It grew very cold ; Less corn and more hell ; Bonanza -- Part VIII. Cowboy in the White House. Rough riding ; West takes east ; Cashing in ; John Muir's last stand ; Long, long trail.