The west was won by men of vision, ambition, courage and daring—sung and unsung heroes who lived through periods of danger and turbulence. Their lives were very different, but all were caught up in the immense challenge and promise of the West.

There was the hard-riding captain, Juan de Anza, who battled both nature and hostile Indians to blaze a trail to Mexico and was the founder of San Francisco. There was Jason Lee, who came to Oregon to spread the word of God and stayed to assure the territory for the United States. No man's ambition was greater than that of Leland Stanford, who helped unite the nation by rail and set up a great university in memory of his dead son. No man's dream was more tenacious than that of Aldolf Sutro, who defeated the most ruthless giants of high finance to build his incredible tunnel beneath the fabulous Comstock Lode.

In the violent world of the mining camps and in the free-wheeling-and-dealing world of politics, the remarkable William Stewart reigned supreme. In the annals of journalism there has never been an editor like William Byers, spinner of tall tales, who traded words and bullets with equal abandon. It was said that "good fortune touched, but never embraced Clarence King," yet this handsome, dynamic, brilliant man was one of the most celebrated figures of his time, at home both in the trackless wilderness and in the glittering capitals of the world.

Each of these exciting stories gives insight into that legendary breed of men who made the winning of the West one of the great dramas of history.

From the book