Introduction: the significance of state boundaries
A little patch of ground: the precedents for western state boundaries
The fairest portion of our union: early boundaries in the trans-Mississippi West
On the extreme frontier: the western Arkansas boundary
Blood will be shed: the Missouri-Iowa boundary
Nature has marked out the boundaries: the Oregon country boundaries
A state bordering upon anarchy: the California-Nevada boundary
Two distinct civilizations: the New Mexico-Colorado boundary
Let us divide: the Dakota boundaries
A broader view of borderlands.
