The 22-book American Milestone series is featured as "Retailers Recommended Fabulous Products" in the August 2012 edition of Educational Dealer magazine. For 18 months in 1860 and 1861, the Pony Express performed one of the most amazing feats of the Old West. A group of daring young riders and fast horses delivered the mail over 1,800 miles-from Missouri to California-in just 10 days! Learn how they rode day and night to connect the West with the East. This book includes: • Founders of the Pony Express • Need for Mail Service • Prime Ponies • Pony Express Stations • What's in that Mailbag? • Famous Riders • Takeover by the Telegraph • Hands-on Activities • Reproducible Activities • Glossary • Fascinating Facts • Timeline • And Lots More! The Pony Express is perhaps the most compelling story of America's "can do" spirit that shares not only the History of a still "wild and wooly" West but a prime example of the ingenuity and "stick-to-it" determination that built this country. Grab your saddle-and ride along with the Pony Express in the fun, informative, and "just can't put it down" book!

The 22-book American Milestone series is featured as "Retailers Recommended Fabulous Products" in the August 2012 edition of Educational Dealer magazine. Just imagine-riding for six months in a wagon, choking on dust, sweating in searing heat, crossing raging rivers, fighting off disease and Indians-the life of a pioneer on the Oregon Trail. Beginning in the 1840s, thousands of Americans took the risk... and lumbered across this seemingly endless trail to a life of promise in the west. This book includes: • What's in That Wagon? • Manifest Destiny • Perils Along the Trail • Into the Unknown • Who Were Those Pioneers • Bountiful Buffalo • Hands-on Activities • Reproducible Activities • Glossary • Fascinating Facts • Timeline • And Lots More! Students can learn much from the compelling story of the overland pioneers who let nothing, and no one - including daunting Mother Nature, a vast, untamed wilderness, and hostilities of all kinds - stand in the way of their dreams and determination. Climb on up in your wagon and "bump along" in this fun, factual and "Wow-that's amazing" book!

“WANTED. YOUNG, SKINNY, WIRY FELLOWS. NOT OVER 18. MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS. WILLING TO RISK DEATH DAILY. ORPHANS PREFERRED.” —California newspaper help-wanted ad, 1860 The Pony Express is one of the most celebrated and enduring chapters in the history of the United States, a story of the all-American traits of bravery, bravado, and entrepreneurial risk that are part of the very fabric of the Old West. No image of the American West in the mid-1800s is more familiar, more beloved, and more powerful than that of the lone rider galloping the mail across hostile Indian territory. No image is more revered. And none is less understood. Orphans Preferred is both a revisionist history of this magnificent and ill-fated adventure and an entertaining look at the often larger-than-life individuals who created and perpetuated the myth of “the Pony,” as it is known along the Pony Express trail that runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. The Pony Express is a story that exists in the annals of Americana where fact and fable collide, a story as heroic as the journey of Lewis and Clark, as complex and revealing as the legacy of Custer’s Last Stand, and as muddled and freighted with yarns as Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Orphans Preferred is a fresh and exuberant reexamination of this great American story.

The 22-book American Milestone series is featured as "Retailers Recommended Fabulous Products" in the August 2012 edition of Educational Dealer magazine. A like but different, bound together by common experience but made individual by geography - the original Thirteen Colonies formed the foundation of the United States of America! From Massachusetts to Georgia, the colonists learned to survive and then flourish in an unknown land full of obstacles and the unexpected. How did they muster the courage, the ingenuity, and the will to persevere? Learn just what it took in this book: • The Founding Fathers • American Flag-13 Stars and 13 stripes • How the Colonies • Formed • It's Not Easy to Break Away from the Mother Country • Meeting the Native Americans • Hands-on Activities • Reproducible Activities • Glossary • Fascinating Facts • Timeline • And Lots More! The compelling story of America's original Thirteen Colonies is a meaningful one for all students who seek to understand how what we learn from History can help us in our own quests. The true high drama of emotions... the deprivations... the determination... and the "going the distance" in spite of setbacks has lessons for all ages, ethnicities, and genders. Read along, and be inspired! "If they did it, surely I can too!"

The 22-book American Milestone series is featured as "Retailers Recommended Fabulous Products" in the August 2012 edition of Educational Dealer magazine. It was a daunting task, but a necessary one-to build a railroad across the United States to unite East and West! From 1863 to 1869, thousands of workers braved blizzards, flash floods, dangerous dynamite blasts, buffalo stampedes, and occasional Indian attacks as they labored across America's plains, prairie, mountains and desert. This book includes: • Reasons for the Railroad • Follow the Wagon Trail • The Central Pacific • The Union Pacific • The Golden Spike • Toil and Trouble • Chinese Laborers • New Cities • New Industries • Hands-on Activities • Reproducible Activities • Glossary • Fascinating Facts • Timeline • And Lots More! The story of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Golden Spike, and the "Westward to Promontory" adventure gives students a compelling look at what it takes to make change, to make progress... and to do so in spite of all types of obstacles, most of them seemingly insurmountable, but which never stop those who dare to dream and do! Grab your hammer- and "ride the rails" in this fun, factual, and "can't believe they did that!" book!

Is it true that King Louis XIV never bathed? Was Doc Holliday really a doctor? Who were the twelve knights of King Arthur's Round Table? And what do Scots traditionally wear under their kilts? You'll get the answers to these fascinating questions and many, many more in the wildly entertaining, un-put-down-able Just Curious About History, Jeeves. Based on the legion of unexpected questions posed at the popular Ask Jeeves Web site, Just Curious tackles all the puzzlers, bafflers, and stumpers that find their way into our everyday lives. What were the Pig Wars and were they actually caused by pigs? Who were the first gangsters? Did Cleopatra really wear makeup? Was Ivan the Terrible that terrible? Sure curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. So if you want to know how tall Napoleon was, whether Captain Kidd had any little Kidds, or who the heck Charles the Fat was, look no further than Just Curious About History, Jeeves -- the unequivocal say-all, end-all, be-all authority on history's who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Galloping Across America shows how Mustangs, Arabians, Palominos, Morgans, and other kinds of horses played a central role in the development of the United States as a nation. From transportation within cities -- the omnibus, fire wagons, delivery of goods -- to mail delivery from coast to coast to tilling soil and herding cattle, Martin Sandler shows how essential the horse was for the survival of four million citizens stretched across 800,000 square miles. As roads improved, stagecoaches became popular for crossing the country. Covered wagons delivered pioneers into the western regions for homesteading. And Native American culture changed significantly as wealth and social standing within tribes began to be measured by the number of horses each man owned. Galloping Across America is a fascinating look at the horse-powered development of America up through the rodeos and mounted police of today. Filled with the spirit of adventure, competition, and restlessness central to the American character, the Transportation in America series reveals how the horse, trolley, ship, railroad, automobile, and airplane transformed the country. Each volume is richly illustrated with photographs, paintings, drawings, posters, timetables, sheet music covers, and original documents -- many of which have never been published before -- and includes fascinating sidebars on the colorful characters and technology behind the transport.

Discover the sights, sounds, and rich history of Kansas City—from ancient burial mounds to a world-class jazz museum. Kansas City is often seen as a “cow town” with great barbecue and steaks. But it’s also a city with more boulevards than Paris and more working fountains than Rome. There are burial mounds that date back more than two thousand years. The National World War I Museum and Memorial, opened in 1926, stands more than two hundred feet tall. Leila’s Hair Museum has a collection that brings tourists from all over the nation. The Kansas City Jazz Museum features a historic district and world-class museum that document a time when dance halls, cabarets, speakeasies, and even honky-tonks and juke joints fostered the development of a new musical style. Join Missouri historian Paul Kirkman as he cuts a trail past the stockyards and takes you on a tour into the heart of America—Kansas City. Includes photos and information on Kansas City landmarks

Learn about the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad and how it influenced the state of California with this primary source text that builds students’ reading skills and social studies content knowledge. The intriguing primary source maps, letters, documents, and images provide authentic nonfiction reading materials and keep students interested in learning. Text features include a glossary, index, captions, sidebars, and table of contents. This book connects to California state studies standards and the NCSS/C3 Framework and features appropriately leveled text to meet the needs of students reading at different levels. Additional features include Read and Respond and a culminating activity that prompt students to dive deeper into the text for additional reading and learning.