The Transcontinental Railroad unites the nation and transforms the Heartland. Native American civilizations decline as farmers settle the continent. Cattle replace wild buffalo as king of the plains, and the cowboy becomes a new American icon.

America strikes oil, and the boom time begins. When Henry Ford brings the motor car to the masses, the nation hits the road. Massive engineering projects modernize the West. Intended to cure vice, Prohibition fuels the growth of organized crime in burgeoning cities.