Includes index.

Exploration and imperialism : 1805-45.Westward clash of empires -- The rediscovery of the southwest -- Canada moves south -- The mountain men -- Something more than beaver -- The romantic horizon -- The Great Reconnaissance and Manifest Destiny. When the eagle screamed : the explorer as diplomat of the final clash of imperial energies : 1845-60 -- The search of an iron trail -- The Great Reconnaissance -- Exploration and the great surveys : 1860-1900. The new mountain men : California's geological survey -- The army way -- The west of Clarence King -- The last stand of the army explorer -- F.V. Hayden : gilded aged age explorer -- John Wesley Powell : the explorer as reformer -- Epilogue : beyond the explorer's frontier.