Volume 1, covering the area called the Mid-South, begins in Memphis, Tennessee at two mound sites: De Soto Mounds in downtown Memphis and Chucalissa Park & Museum. The suggested driving trail then leads to Pinson Mounds near Jackson, Tennessee, a museum in Savannah and then to mounds at the famous Shiloh, Tennessee National Park. Next up is a museum and very old and large mound at Florence, Alabama followed by Owl Creek Mounds and Emerald Mound in Mississippi. Then four large sites, all with museums, conclude the tour with visits to Poverty Point, Louisiana, the Ka-Do-Ha Mound site, the Plum Bayou Mound Complex near Little Rock, and the Parkin Site in Arkansas. Over 50 mounds, some of the largest in America, can be seen on the tour.
The book contains over 90 color mound photos, site surveys and illustrations, and various artifacts recovered from the sites or near the sites.