Examining seven states of the Far West, this book reveals how Americans used cities and towns to build their Western empire, developing their urban centers with wealth from the hinterlands - San Fransisco, for example, built its initial fortune on the gold of the Mother Lode - and supplying their growing populations with foodstuffs and other essential resources from their rural tributaries, while at the same time using their regional connections as outlets for the goods and services of the cities.