The West conjures images of rolling plains and the Rocky Mountains, cowboys and Indians. Yet Eyewitness to the American West reveals that the classic "Old West" is just part of a 500-year history in which the first conquistadors are intimately connected to the men who created Silicon Valley. Seamlessly, these eyewitness reports tie the Old West's shifting frontier with the modern West's evolving social patterns.

And here are countless surprises. The first European to see the Pacific Ocean, the founder of Texas, and the man responsible for Silicon Valley's location all fled west to escape creditors after going bankrupt. The first skirmishes of the Civil War, women's suffrage, and even Social Security are among the many national social shifts that occurred first in the West, where new states required new laws, and established institutions held little influence.

Eyewitness to the American West brings together conquistadors and missionaries, venture capitalists and new age therapists, to create a kaleidoscope of American history - surprising, enlightening, and entertaining.