Describes the expedition led by Lewis and Clark to explore the unknown western regions of America at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Details Commodore Matthew Perry's role in opening Japan's closed society to world trade in the 1850s, one of history's most significant diplomatic achievements.

Illustrated history of the building of the transcontinental railroad in the United States, beginning in 1862 when President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law, and ending on May 10, 1869, when the final, golden spike was driven, uniting tracks from the east and west.

Relates the adventures of York, a slave and "body servant" to William Clark, who journeyed west with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806.

The race began when the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was signed. It allowed one railroad company to lay tracks west from the Mississippi, while another lay tracks east from California.