Part I: When America's story was dominated by wood, 1785-1805

Part II: When America's story went beneath the earth, 1809-1901

Part III: When the American story traveled by water, 1803-1900

Part IV: When the American story was fanned by fire, 1811-1956

Part V: When the American story was told through metal, 1835-tomorrow.

When America's story was dominated by wood, 1785-1805. A view across the ridge ; Drawing a line in the sand ; Peering through the trees ; The frontier and the thesis ; The wood was become grass ; Encounters with the Sioux ; First lady of the plains ; High plains rafters ; Passing the gateway ; Shoreline passage

When America's story went beneath the Earth, 1809-1901. The lasting benefit of harmony ; The science that changed America ; Drawing the colors of rocks ; The wellspring of knowledge ; The tapestry of underneath ; Setting the lures ; Off to see the elephant ; The west, revealed ; The singular first adventure of Kapurats ; The men who gave us Yellowstone ; Diamonds, sex, and race

When the American story traveled by water, 1803-1900. Journeys to the fall line ; The streams beyond the hills ; The pivot and the feather ; The first big dig ; The wedded waters of New York ; The linkman cometh ; That ol' man river

When the American story was fanned by fire, 1811-1956. May the roads rise up ; Rain, steam, and speed ; The annihilation of the in-between ; The immortal legacy of Crazy Judah ; Colonel Eisenhower's epiphanic expedition ; The colossus of roads ; And then we looked up ; The twelve-week crossing

When the American story was told through metal, 1835-tomorrow. To go, but not to move ; The man who tamed the lightning ; The signal power of human speech ; With power for one and all ; Lighting the corn, powering the prairie ; The talk of the nation ; Making money from air ; Television: the irresistible force ; The all of some knowledge.