Originally published by Doubleday, 2002.

Prologue: The Baron and the carpenter (Coloma, January 1848) -- PART ONE: The gathering of the peoples (From the world to California, 1848-1849) -- In the footsteps of Father Serra -- Across the Pacific -- The Peaks of Darien -- To the bottom of the world and back -- To see the elephant -- Where rivers die -- PART TWO: From Vulcan's Forge (The goldfields, 1848-1850s) -- With a washbowl on my knee -- A millenium in a day -- PART THREE: American Athena (California, 1849-1856) -- The miracle of St. Francis -- Sutter's last stand -- Shaking the temple -- Children of the mother lode -- Reflections in an all-seeing eye -- PART FOUR: The Gordian knot and the Pacific connection (California and the Union, 1856-1869) -- The Pathfinder's return -- South by west -- From sea to shining sea -- PART FIVE: The new El Dorado (America in the age of gold) -- Prometheus unbound -- American dreamers -- Sources; Bibliography; Index; Acknowledgements.