Having separated from the one-armed trapper who taught him how to survive in the wilderness of the Old West, fifteen-year-old Francis gets lost and continues to have adventures involving dangerous men and a friendly mule.

In 1848, nine-year-old Joshua Martin McCullough writes a journal of his family's journey from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon. Includes a historical note about westward migration.

Biographical sketches of nine African American pioneers.

Describes the exploits of some of the men in the Old West, including John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, Doc Holliday, and James Butler Hickok, who earned reputations for being deadly with a gun.

Discusses some of the explorers and trappers who journeyed west to hunt and trade beaver pelts and other commodities during the early nineteenth century.

Accounts of young Indians and whites who were unwillingly subjected to life in an alien culture during the years of American settlement of the West. Includes the stories of an Osage boy stolen and sold into plantation slavery by the Cherokees and a white girl whose Indian captors provided for her future welfare by giving her a tribal tattoo.

Describes what life was like for children and their families traveling westward on the Oregon Trail, including their daily chores, recreation, hardships, and the important role the settlers played in the growith of the United States.

Presents the greatest adventures of America's Westward expansion, from the Louisiana Purchase and the gold rush to the Indian wars and life of the cowboy, as well as the everyday happenings that defined living on the frontier.