When Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, the western boundary of the United States was the Mississippi River, and two-thirds of all U.S. citizens lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Jefferson was determined to link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by finding "the northwest passage" - a water route to the Pacific Ocean. He appointed his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to head the expedition, and Lewis asked his army buddy William Clark to share command.

The expedition set off from St. Louis, Missouri on May 14, 1804 traveling in keelboats up the Missouri River. As they crossed the broad plains of America's heartland, they discovered 178 new species of plants and 122 new species of animals. Stopping at a Hidatsas and Mandan Indian village near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota, they hired a French fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshone Indian wife Sacagawea to serve as translators. Sacagawea soon gave birth to baby boy, Jean Baptiste.

With its three new members, the expedition pressed on reaching the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass on the present-day border of Montana and Idaho the following summer. On November 7, 1805 near what is now Astoria, Oregon, the expedition finally reached the Pacific Ocean. After wintering in Oregon, they retraced their steps returning to St. Louis on September 26, 1806. In all, they had been gone nearly two and a half years. Tragically, Lewis committed suicide in 1809 and Sacagawea died at Fort Manuel in South Dakota in 1812. William Clark adopted her two children, Jean Baptiste and an infant daughter, Lisette.

Set in the forests of North America during the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763) between Great Britain and France, "The Last of the Mohicans" is the story of three frontiersmen, young Indian brave Uncas, his white adopted brother Nat, and their father Chingachgook. Interrupting a devastating attack by Huron Indians led by the evil Magua on a column of British soldiers, they agree to transport the daughters of the English commander, Alice and Cora Munro, to Fort William Henry. When they unexpectedly fall in love with the English girls, Nat and Uncas must fight to save them.  Published 1832, "The Last of the Mohicans" was just one of the Cooper's frontier-themed works, which included "The Deerslayer" and "The Pathfinder".

Set in the Puritan colony of Boston in 1642, "The Scarlet Letter" is the story of a young woman, Hester Prynne, who bears a child obviously not fathered by her elderly husband. When she refuses to name her lover, she is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on the front of her dress, proclaiming her adulterous condition to one and all. "The Scarlet Letter" is the most famous of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novels, which include "The House of the Seven Gables" and "The Marble Faun."

 In order to read The Americana Collection on your Pocket PC, you must have the Microsoft Reader installed. This reader is included with most Pocket PCs however, if you don't have it installed, check your Pocket PC's web site or the Microsoft web site to see if the reader can be downloaded. Because the Collection is downloaded in a zipped format, you must first unzip it using either Winzip or Stuffit Expander on your PC. Then, use your Microsoft desktop software to install the books to your Pocket PC. Start the Microsoft Reader, and select the book you want to read. It's that easy!

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