Four brief stories depict experiences of trappers and fur traders in Colorado duing the first half of the nineteenth century.

Four stories depict life in late 19th-century Colorado.

Four brief stories depict scientific concerns of early Colorado: the collecting of botanical specimens; the invention of a low-cost way to separate ores; the discovery of dinosaur bones; and the treatment of tuberculosis.

Four stories describe life in Colorado's mountain mining camps of Leadville, Caribou, Ouray, and Cripple Creek in the late 1800's.