Provides details about life in the West, including what it was like to go to school in the West more than 100 years ago and the challenges of living with grasshoppers.

Examines various types of dwellings in western Northern America during the nineteenth century, discussing their construction and design as well as the lives of the settlers who lived in them.

Discusses how the United States gained ownership of the Oregon Territory, who discovered the best routes west, and the obstacles pioneers faced on their journeys along the Oregon Trail.

"Examines the expedition of the Donner Party by discussing how they came to be stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the immediate and lasting effects their journey had on the nation as well as the people and places involved"--

Presents a look at daily life in pioneer America during the 1850s by following a family that emigrates from Sweden to Minnesota.