Topics: getting there, homes, food and clothing, tasks and chores, dangers and hardships, frontier schools, fun and amusements, justice, towns, heroes and heroines, and Native Americans. Eleven fascinating historical articles (four or five pages long, and reproducible for easy distribution) summarize main points and deliver colorful, memorable details about history. Following each illustrated article, three or four reproducible worksheets test comprehension and spark deeper engagement through creative writing, arts and crafts projects, research starters, critical thinking questions, what-if scenarios, and other activities. Grades 4–8. Suggested readings. Answer keys.