Sympathetic biography of the father of the U.S. cavalry system who built more frontier posts than any of his contemporaries, the epic of whose achievement added a third to the territory of the United States.

Birth--ancestry--school days -- The school of the soldier -- The Yellowstone expeditions--1819-25 -- The Winnebago War and Fort Crawford -- The course of true love -- The first dragoons -- Shonga Kahega Mahetonga -- The stirring of manifest destiny -- The Army of the West : Genesis -- The Army of the West : Exodus -- The Army of the West : invasion -- Santa Fe -- A fateful meeting -- The thousand-mile leap -- San Pasqual -- The San Gabriel and the mesa -- "Who is governor of California?" -- "A bright star in our union" -- Saddle leather and statecraft -- Witness on trial -- Taps.