Catan Settlers of America Rules

The 19th Century has arrived and America is heading west. Wagon trains of settlers seeking fresh lives and opportunities strike out to tame the wild land of the west. From the vast prairies they wrest fertile land for crops and grazing lands for their voracious cattle herds.
About Jack Berlin

Founded Accusoft (Pegasus Imaging) in 1991 and has been CEO ever since.
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city player rail settler train city site resource move build
About Jack Berlin

Founded Accusoft (Pegasus Imaging) in 1991 and has been CEO ever since.
city player rail settler train city site resource move build
<p>1
The 19th Century has arrived and America is heading 
west. Wagon trains of settlers seeking fresh lives and 
opportunities strike out to tame the wild land of the west. 
From the vast prairies they wrest fertile land for crops and 
grazing lands for their voracious cattle herds.
As more and more settlers head west, new cities pop up 
like mushrooms. Due to the distances between them, these 
new cities quickly come to rely on young railroads for the 
transport of vital goods. Trails become rails and create 
great wealth. Soon, a complex railroad network develops, 
and steam belching iron horses connect the thriving cities. 
Experience the pioneer days of the Wild West! Send your 
settlers west to found cities and to develop the expanding 
railroad network. If you are the first to use your trains 
to deliver 8 goods to your opponents’ cities (or 10 goods 
in a 3-player game), you win the game and fulfill your 
manifest destiny as the era’s greatest pioneer. 
Map Board 
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The map board shows the continental United States within 
its present-day boundaries. Large hexagons (i.e., terrain 
hexes) depict the different types of terrain: pasture, hills, 
fields, forest, and mountains. Each type of terrain produces 
a different resource: cattle, coal, grain, lumber, and ore. You 
use these resources to build and expand your holdings.
An edge where 2 terrain hexes meet is called a path. You 
build rails (tracks) on paths, and your trains move along 
these rails. 
A point where 3 terrain hexes meet is called an intersection. 
You move your settlers from 1 intersection to another. 
Small hexagons called city-sites occupy some intersections. 
Your starting cities can only be founded on purple (white-
bordered) city-sites. When 1 of your settlers stops on an empty 
city-site, it must settle and you must build a city there. 
a Historical adventure Game by Klaus Teuber
Game Rules
2
R Place the gray outlaw piece on 1 of the desert hexes. 
R Take 3 gold (i.e., 3 1-valued gold tokens). 
R Place your goods cubes and remaining cities on 1 of the 
turntables on the board. For practical reasons, use the 
closest turntable.
Place your cities on the rectangular spaces on your 
turntable—9 in a 3-player game, 7 in a 4-player game. 
In a 4-player game, the 2 darker spaces remain empty.
Place 1 goods piece 
in the center of your 
turntable. Place the rest 
of your goods pieces on 
your turntable in the 
square spaces next to 
your city pieces.  
The illustration 
at the right shows 
the placement of 
your pieces on your turntable in a 4-player game. In 
a 3-player game, each of the darker spaces would also 
receive 1 city and 1 goods cube. 
R For your first few games, you begin the game with 
3 resource cards as follows: 
<“Red” Player ......................................1 coal, 2 grain
<“Orange” Player ..................1 cattle, 1 coal, 1 grain
<“White” Player.......................1 cattle, 1 grain, 1 ore
<“Blue” Player .................................................3 grain
preparaTion  
E
R Select a color and take the building costs card and the 
game pieces of that color: 
• 30 rails (railroad tracks)
• 12 cities in a 3-player game, 10 in a 4-player game
• 2 trains (engines)
• 2 settlers (covered wagons)
• 10 goods in a 3-player game, 8 in a 4-player game
R Place the 12 number tokens on the terrain hexes with 
the single question marks (as shown in the  illustration 
on pages 3 & 16).   
R Shuffle the development cards and place the resulting 
stack face down in the appropriate space on the board. 
R Sort the resource cards and place the resulting 5 stacks 
face up beside the map board. They serve as the resource 
supply during the game.
R Place your starting pieces (3 cities, 1 train, 1 rail) as 
detailed in the illustration on pages 3 & 16. In a 3-player 
game, also place the 3 city pieces for the color not being 
played—these cities do not produce resources, but you 
may deliver goods to them.
Please Note: After you play a few times, you can 
randomly set-up the number tokens. Shuffle, then place 
them on the single question mark hexes.  You may also 
want to use the variable set-up rules to place your starting 
pieces (see pages 8-9).
CoMponenTs 
E
3
R Build & buy: You may use resources to buy development 
cards and to build settlers, rails, and trains.  
R Move settlers & “build” cities: You move your settler(s) 
by paying grain resources. When a settler ends its 
movement on an empty city-site, you must replace the 
settler with a city (i.e., remove the settler and build a city).
R Move trains & deliver goods: You move your train(s) 
by paying coal resources. During your turn, any of your 
trains that are adjacent to an opponent’s city may deliver 
goods as long as the goods space is empty. Only 1 goods 
piece can be delivered to each city.
extraordinary Build phase 
After you have finished the action phase on your turn, the 
extraordinary build phase begins. Starting with the player 
to your left and proceeding clockwise, each player may build 
or buy: settlers, trains, rails, and/or development cards. 
However, a player may not trade, play development cards, 
deliver goods, or move trains or settlers during this phase. 
Note: Hold on to the dice until the last player has finished 
building. Only pass the dice when you end your turn.
Note: This is the end of the Overview.
overview  
E
To start the game, you and the other players each roll the 
dice (reroll ties). If your roll is the highest, you take the first 
turn. When you are finished, the player to your left takes a 
turn. The players continue to take turns until the game ends. 
Note: If the high rollers tie, they reroll for first turn.
production phase (see page 4 for details)
Roll the dice. If your roll is a “7,” activate and move the 
outlaw. Otherwise, use the result to determine the resources 
produced and to distribute resource cards to the players. 
Then you proceed to the Action Phase.
action phase (see page 5-8 for details)
As long as you can pay the required resources, you may 
perform the following actions as often as you like, in any 
order. For example, you may first trade, then build, then 
trade again, and move your train and your settler.  
R Trade: You may trade resources and gold with your 
opponents and/or the resource card supply. 
R play a development card 
4
The roll is not a “7” 
For each city adjacent to a terrain  
hex with the number just rolled,  
the player who owns that city takes  
1 resource card corresponding to 
the type of resource produced by this 
terrain. The illustration on the right 
shows the resource type produced by 
each terrain type.  
If you have 2 or 3 cities adjacent  
to the same terrain hex, you receive  
1 resource for each city. 
Keep your resource cards in your 
hand. The other players can always 
know how many resources you have, 
but not what type of resources. 
R resources blocked: 
If the number of a terrain hex 
occupied by the outlaw is rolled, 
the owners of adjacent cities do not 
receive resources for that hex.  
R resource shortage: 
If there are not enough cards of 
a given resource in the supply to 
fulfill everyone’s production, no one 
receives any of that type of resource 
during the turn.  
produCTion pHase 
E
Begin your turn by rolling both dice. (Note: You may 
choose to play a development card before rolling.) Based 
on the sum of the numbers on the dice, 1 of 2 effects occurs:
R If the roll is a “7,” you move the outlaw.
R If the roll is not a “7,” terrain hexes produce resources 
for all players
The roll is a “7”
If you roll a “7,” no one receives any resources, and no one 
receives gold as compensation. Instead, the outlaw strikes:  
R Lose resources: Each player who has more than 
7 resource cards must select half of them and return 
them to the supply—round down (for example, if you 
have 9 cards, you must discard 4 of them). Do not count 
gold and development cards.
R Move the outlaw: You, the player who rolled the “7,”  
must move the outlaw onto any other numbered terrain 
hex of your choice.  
R steal a resource: You then steal 1 (random) resource 
card from an opponent who has a city adjacent to the 
hex now occupied by the outlaw. Your opponent holds his 
resource cards face down. You then take 1 card and add 
it to your own hand. If 2 or more players have adjacent 
cities, you choose which one you want to steal a card 
from.  If there are no adjacent cities, you get nothing.
R Compensation: 
If you do not receive any 
resources, take 1 gold as 
your compensation.  
This occurs when all 
of the hexes adjacent 
to your cities fail to produce: due to not 
matching the number rolled, due to being 
occupied by the outlaw, and/or due to a 
shortage of resources. This applies to all 
players.
Example: (See illustration on the left) 
An “11” was rolled. The red player has 1 city 
adjacent to the hills hex with an “11” and 
another 1 adjacent to the pasture hex with an 
“11.” He receives 1 coal and 1 cattle. The orange 
player also has a city adjacent to the hills hex 
whose number was rolled; he also receives  
1 coal. The white player receives 1 lumber for his 
city adjacent to the forest hex with an “11.” The 
blue player does not receive any resources and 
takes 1 gold coin as compensation. 
5
You must return 1 cattle and 1 coal to the supply in order 
to buy a development card. Take the top development card 
from the stack, look at it, and keep it hidden from the other 
players. 
Important: You may not play a development card 
(see page 7) on the same turn you buy it. However, you may 
play a development card you purchased during an earlier 
extraordinary build phase (see page 8). This still qualifies 
toward your maximum 1 development card played per turn. 
B) settler requires: 1 Cattle, 1 Grain, 1 Lumber
aCTion pHase 
E
As long as required conditions are satisfied, you may 
perform these actions multiple times in any order:
• Trade with the supply or the other players.
• Build a settler, a rail, or a train.
• Buy a development card.
• Move a settler and possibly transform it into a city.
• Move a train and perhaps deliver goods.
• Play a development card.
1) Trade
On your turn, you may trade with your opponents, 
exchange resources with the supply, and/or purchase a 
resource of your choice for 2 gold.  
R Trade with opponents: On your turn, you may trade 
resources and gold with the other players. You may tell 
them which resources you want and which resources you 
are willing to give in exchange. However, you may also 
listen to your opponents’ offers and make counteroffers. 
Important: The other players may only trade with the 
player whose turn it is. They are not allowed to trade 
among themselves. 
R use gold to buy a resource: For 2 gold, you may buy 
any 1 resource of your choice. Return 2 gold to the 
supply and take 1 resource card from the supply. 
You must return 1 cattle, 1 grain, and 1 lumber to the 
supply in order to build a settler. Place your newly-built 
settler next to any of your cities. If you already have both 
settlers on the map board, you may remove 1 of them and 
rebuild it. Then, you may pay the usual resource costs as 
outlined above. 
C) Train requires: 1 ore, 1 Lumber, 1 Coal
You must return 1 ore, 1 lumber, and 1 coal to the supply in 
order to build a train. Your newly built train must be placed 
next to 1 of your rails that is adjacent to 1 of your cities. If 
you already have both of your trains on the board, you may 
remove 1 of them and rebuild it. Then, you may pay the 
usual resource costs and build that train as outlined above. 
Important: The rail next to which you place your train must 
be adjacent to 1 of your cities and it must be 1 of your rails. 
d) rail requires: 1 ore, 1 Lumber
You must return 1 ore and 1 lumber to the supply in order 
to build a rail. Place your newly built rail on a path that 
does not already have a rail—this path must be adjacent to 
1 of your cities and/or to 1 of your rails. 
Note: If you build a rail next to a city-site (empty or 
containing an opponent’s city), you may build another rail 
on an empty path on the other side of that city-site (i.e., cities 
and empty city-sites do not block rail building).
Important: On your turn, you may only use gold to 
purchase a maximum of 2 resources.  
R exchange resources with the supply: You may return 
3 resource cards of the same type to the supply—in 
exchange, you may take 1 gold or 1 resource card of 
your choice.  
Note: You may not trade like resources (e.g., 3 ore for 1 ore).
2) Buy development Cards & Build
You must pay a specific combination of resource cards 
to buy a development card or to build a settler, a rail, or a 
train. After paying, take the settler, rail, or train piece from 
your supply and place it on the game board, or take the top 
development card from the stack and keep it hidden from the 
other players. As long as you can pay the building costs, you 
may buy and build as often as you want during your turn. 
Note: If the rails in your supply of pieces are used up, you 
can’t build any more rails. Therefore, you should carefully 
plan the setup of your railroad network. Similarly, the supply 
of pieces limits your building of cities, settlers, and trains.  
a) development Card requires: 1 Cattle, 1 Coal
6
3) Move a settler & Build a City 
a) Move a settler
R rails produce gold: If you build a rail and, as a result, 
an “isolated” city-site is connected to another city-site for 
the first time, you and perhaps other players receive gold. 
An isolated city-site is a city-site (empty or occupied by a 
city) that is not connected to any other city-site by rails.
To pay out the gold, first determine the shortest route 
(series of rails) that connects the previously isolated city-
site to another city-site. If there are more than 1 shortest 
routes, the player whose turn it is selects which of those 
routes to use. 
You and each of the other players then receive 1 gold 
for each of your rails that is part of the shortest route.
Example: In the illustration below, the red player builds the 
rail marked with a red circle. He thus connects the city-site 
(Omaha) at the top left with other city-sites for the first time. 
The shortest connecting route (to St. Louis) is marked with 
arrows. It consists of 1 rail belonging to the blue player and 
2 rails belonging to the red player. The red player receives  
2 gold and the blue player receives 1 gold. 
R Train track: If you build a rail on a path marked with a 
train track, you may immediately build another rail for 
free. This rail must be placed adjacent to the rail on the 
train track, in any of the possible directions.
Example: In illustration (A), the white player builds a 
rail. He may place it on a path adjacent to his city or 
adjacent to the rail he already built. In illustration (B), he 
builds the rail on the path marked with the train track (red 
arrow in A), he may subsequently build another rail on  
1 of the paths indicated in illustration (B), for free. 
You move your settlers from intersection to intersection. 
For each grain you return to the supply, you may move 
1 (and only 1) of your settlers a distance of up to 3 
intersections. For example, if you pay 3 grain, you may 
move a settler a distance of up to 9 intersections. The 
following rules also apply: 
R When moving a settler, its total movement for a turn 
may not end on an intersection already occupied by 
another settler or by another player’s city. However, it 
may move past another settler or another player’s city. 
Further, rails do not block a settler’s movement
R You do not have to move a settler the full distance 
allowed by the total grain you pay. If you move it a 
shorter distance, any unused movement is forfeited.  
R You may not split the movement distance from 1 
grain (3 intersections) between your 2 settlers. For 
example, you may not pay 1 grain to move 1 settler 
2 intersections and your other settler 1 intersection. 
However, you may pay 2 grain and move each settler 
up to 3 intersections. 
b) Build a City
If 1 of your settlers ends its total movement for a turn 
on an empty city-site, immediately replace it with a city 
(i.e., they settle there and build a city). Return the settler 
to your supply, take a city from your turntable, and place 
it on the city-site. This transformation of a settler into a 
city doesn’t cost additional resources. If you want to avoid 
this transformation, you must end your settler’s total 
movement for a turn on an intersection that does not 
have an empty city-site. 
R Freeing goods: 
When you build 
a city, move the 
goods piece that 
was adjacent 
to the city on 
your turntable 
into the circle at 
the turntable’s 
center—it is 
now available for 
delivery.
7
R Coastal cities: If you build a city on a city-site on the 
coast, you receive gold in the amount indicated by the 
gold symbol next to the city-site.  
R Moving a number token: If a newly built city is 
adjacent to a terrain hex marked with double question 
marks, move a number token already on the map 
board to that terrain hex. Move the number token that 
is in the eastern-most column of terrain hexes that still 
contains at least 1 number token. Within that column, 
move the northern-most number token first.
Example: In Illustrations C and D, blue builds a city in 
Rapid City (blue arrow in C). As shown by the red arrows 
in (D) and then (C), the eastern-most number token 
(9-token) is removed and placed on the “??” pasture space 
next to Rapid City. Next, white builds a city in Denver (white 
arrow in C). The 10-token west of Albany moves to the “??” 
mountains hex next to Denver (black arrows in D & C).
Example: In the illustration above, the red player builds a 
settler and places it next to the city-site occupied by his city 
(A). He needs grain and would like to move this settler to 
Bismarck and build a city. He only has 2 grain and pays it 
to move his settler up to 6 intersections. However, if his settler 
moves the full 6 intersections, the settler would end the turn 
on Minneapolis where it would be forced to stop and build a 
city. So, he only moves the settler 5 intersections (B). 
On his next turn, he again pays 2 grain and thus may 
move his settler up to 6 intersections. However, he only 
moves his settler 4 intersections and ends his settler’s move 
on the city-site “Bismarck” (C). He returns his settler to 
his supply and places 1 of his cities on the city-site. Red’s 
settler just founded and built Bismarck, ND.
4) play development Cards
During your turn, you may play 1 (and only 1) 
development card. You may play the development card 
during the production phase before rolling the dice or at any 
moment during your action phase. However, you may not 
play a development card on the turn you buy it. 
After you play a development card, follow the directions 
given in the card’s text, and then discard it. Discarded 
development cards form the discard pile. When all the 
development cards have been bought, shuffle the discard pile 
to form the new development card stack. 
8
When you deliver, take a goods piece from the center of your 
turntable and place it on the city’s goods-space.
To deliver a goods cube to a city, the following 
requirements must be satisfied:
• 1 of your trains must be on a rail adjacent to the city.
• The goods-space next to the city must be empty.
• A goods cube must be in the center of your turntable.
• The city must belong to another player.
At the beginning of the game, you only have 1 goods cube 
that you can deliver. In order to be able to deliver more 
goods, you must build cities—each time you build a city, its 
adjacent goods cube moves into the center of your turntable 
and is available to be delivered.  
Important: You may not deliver cubes to your own cities or 
to empty city-sites! Delivering a cube costs you nothing.
Example: In the illustration on page 9, the red player pays 
3 coal and thus may move his train 9 rails. He first moves 
his train 5 rails (A) and delivers goods to the blue city. He 
continues along 2 blue rails, moves onto the orange rail, 
and delivers goods to the orange city (B). For using his 
opponent’s rails, he pays 1 gold each to the blue and the 
orange player. His train has moved 8 rails, and may move 
1 orange rail further or back onto the blue rail. Instead the 
red player ends movement after 8 rails. If he wants to move 
his train along the blue rails and back to his red rails on his 
next turn, he would have to pay the blue player 1 gold again 
but would pay orange nothing.  
exTraordinary BuiLd pHase E
After you have finished your action phase, the 
extraordinary build phase begins. Starting with the player 
to your left and proceeding clockwise, each player may build 
or buy: settlers, trains, rails, and/or development cards. 
However, a player may not trade, play development cards, 
deliver goods, or move trains or settlers. 
winninG THe GaMe 
E
When you have delivered all of your goods cubes, you win 
and the game ends.   
appendix  
E
variable set-up  
After you are comfortable with the rules of the game, you 
can use the variable set-up instead of the fixed setup. At the 
beginning of a game using the variable set-up, randomly 
place the number tokens on the single question mark hexes. 
Then you and the other players take turns placing your 
initial pieces: 3 cities, your rail, and your train.  
5) Move Trains & deliver Goods 
a) Move a Train
You move your trains from rail to rail (path to path).  
You may never move a train onto a path without a 
contiguous rail. 
For each coal you return to the supply, you may move  
1 (and only 1) of your trains a distance of up to 3 rails. Each 
path must contain a contiguous rail. For example, if you 
pay 3 coal, you may move 1 of your trains up to 9 paths that 
contain rails. The following rules also apply: 
R After a train’s movement, at most 2 trains may occupy 
the same path, 1 to the left of the rail and 1 to the right. 
However, you may move a train past a path occupied by  
2 trains as long as its movement does not end there.  
R You may not split the movement from 1 coal (3 rails) 
between 2 trains. For example, you may not pay 1 coal 
to move 1 train 2 rails and the other 1 rail. However, you 
may pay 2 coal and move each train up to 3 rails. 
Note: If you reverse the movement of your train, you do not 
have to use any of your movement to “turn around.”
b) pay for “right of way” —  
Move on another player’s rails 
If you move 1 of your trains onto or through 1 or more of 
another player’s rails during your turn, you must pay that 
player a “right of way” fee of 1 gold. This 1 gold is a flat 
fee—regardless of how many of a player’s rails you use, you 
still must pay that player only 1 gold. You must pay a this fee 
to each player whose rails you use. 
The following rules apply:
R If you also use the same opponent’s rails with your 
second train, you must pay that opponent a second gold.  
R You must make these payments each turn that your 
trains use opponents’ rails.   
R If 1 of your trains begins your turn on another player’s 
rail, but does not move or moves off and doesn’t use that 
player’s rails again, no payment is required. 
c) deliver Goods Cubes  
At any time 
during your turn, 
if your train is 
on a rail directly 
adjacent to 
another player’s 
city, you may be 
able to deliver 1 of 
your goods cubes. 
9
these cities on any empty purple (white-bordered) city-site 
that is not on the coast. Then, proceeding clockwise, each of 
the other players does the same. These cities do not produce 
resources, but you may deliver goods to them
6. starting player
The starting player takes the first turn. Then play proceeds 
clockwise with each player taking a turn. 
Basic Playing Tips 
secure your resources 
During the initial phase of the game, it is important to 
increase your resource production. Therefore, you should 
build settlers early on and send them to new city-sites. In 
this context, build your new cities adjacent to terrain hexes 
that produce resources that you do not already produce 
abundantly. For example, if you don’t have a city adjacent to 
a pasture hex after the set-up phase is finished, you will not 
produce cattle. In this case, you should try to send your first 
settler to a city-site adjacent to a pasture hex. 
As the game progresses, the number tokens in the east 
move as to cities being built in the west. The hexes they leave 
cease resource production. So, you should keep in mind 
which hexes will stop producing resources, and when. Try to 
build new cities early enough to counterbalance this reduced 
production. 
How Often Do Terrain Hexes Produce? 
The numbers on the terrain hexes have different chances 
of being rolled. Out of 36 dice rolls, a “6” or “8” comes up, 
on average, 5 times each. A “5” and a “9” are rolled 4 times 
each, a “4” and a “10” roll 3 times each, and a “3” and an 
“11” only 2 times each.  A “2” or a “12” averages just 1 time 
out of 36 dice rolls. Each production number has a number 
of dots next to it that specifies its average chance of being 
rolled (e.g., 5 dots means 5 chances out of a possible 36). 
1. place the number Tokens 
Shuffle the 12 number tokens face down. Place 1 number 
token on each terrain hex marked with a single question 
mark. Then turn all of the number tokens face up. 
2. place the starting Cities
Each player rolls both dice. The player who rolls highest 
is the starting player. The starting player places a city on 
any purple (white-bordered) city-site. Then, proceeding 
clockwise, each of the other players does the same.
Note: During set-up, you may not use the red city-sites.
Once each player has placed 1 city, the player who placed 
last now places a second city. Then, proceeding counter-
clockwise, each of the other players places a second city. 
Finally, each player places a third city—beginning with the 
starting player and proceeding clockwise.   
3. Take starting resources 
Instead of the starting resources used in the fixed set-up, you 
receive your starting resources based upon the third city you 
placed. For each terrain hex adjacent to this city, you  receive 
the corresponding resource card. For example, if you place 
your city on a city-site between mountains, hills, and fields, 
you receive 1 “ore” card, 1 “coal” card, and 1 “grain” card.
4. place rails and Trains
The last player to place his third city places a rail on 
a path adjacent to anyone of his or her cities. Then, 
proceeding counter-clockwise, each of the other players 
places a rail. You do not have to place your rail next to your 
third city. Then, you and each of the other players place 1 of 
your trains next to your rail. 
5. additional pieces for a 3-player Game 
After you and the other players have placed your pieces 
in a 3-player game, you also need to place 3 city pieces for 
the color not being played. The starting player places 1 of 
10
contains an opponent’s city, you also have the opportunity to 
move your train to that city and deliver your goods there.  
a Bit of strategic planning for Cities and rails
If your new cities are all concentrated in 1 area, you make 
it easy for your opponents to deliver goods to your cities. If 
you build your cities in a more scattered fashion, you make 
goods delivery more difficult for your opponents. Scattering 
your cities also gives you more time to reach your opponents’ 
concentrated settlement areas and deliver your goods there. 
If you connect your cities with your rails, you may get 
gold, but you give your opponents an easier opportunity to 
deliver goods. Remember, they can deliver goods to your 
cities but you cannot.
So when selecting a city-site for a new city consider both the 
type of resources it will produce and the chances of actually 
producing each resource on any given turn. For example, if 
you want to increase your ore production, a city adjacent to a 
mountains hex marked with an “8” makes more sense than a 
city adjacent to a mountains hex marked with a “3.” 
Generating Gold Through Track Building 
With gold, you can buy much-needed resources and use 
your opponents’ rails to move your trains to deliver goods. 
Therefore, gold is very important—you need as much of it 
as you can get and you should use it wisely. One of the ways 
to obtain gold is by connecting isolated city-sites to other 
city-sites using rails (see page 6). When 1 of those city-sites 
almanac
From the time of its labeling in the years between 1839 
and 1845, the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny” dominated 
American political policy in the mid-to-late Nineteenth 
Century. In fact, it underpinned American politics well 
into the 1900’s. It only ran its course with the admission 
of Alaska and Hawaii as states in 1959. The concept was 
rooted in the belief that the United States would naturally, 
inevitably, and irreproachably occupy all of the land between 
its original territory and the North American shores of the 
Pacific Ocean. America was properly destined to engage 
in the westward expansion 
that ultimately formed its 
bounds. This was, in most 
contemporary minds, a God-
given national right.
The roots of America’s 
Manifest Destiny reach 
back into earlier centuries, 
well before the American 
Revolution. European settlers 
in the English colonies, 
like those in the Spanish-
claimed and French-claimed 
territories, saw North 
America as a blank canvas. They generally ignored native 
peoples as they marched westward and settled “the wilds.” 
The New World seemed like a gift from God. When politicians 
sought to restrict the settlers’ movements because of treaty 
obligations, concerns for public safety, or fear of settlements 
outside royal mandate, most settlers simply ignored them. 
Theirs was a manifest right. In fact, much of the tension 
between the English colonists and their sovereign arose 
out of the Crown’s restrictions on settlement beyond 
the Appalachian Mountains.
After independence, the young United 
States enjoyed claim to all of the land 
between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River south of 
Canada and north of Florida. Still, many settlers sought land 
on the western banks of the Mississippi and beyond. When 
President Thomas Jefferson 
authorized James Monroe to 
negotiate a deal with Napoleon’s 
government to purchase the 
vast French territory known 
as Louisiana for $15,000,000 
in 1803, it seemed to many 
a natural step in the young 
country’s destiny. The Louisiana 
Purchase covered about 828,000 
square miles of land: roughly all 
or part of Louisiana, Arkansas, 
Missouri, Oklahoma, New 
Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South 
Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. America, 
at least by title, almost stretched from “sea to shining sea.” 
Native American presence—much less claims—meant 
virtually nothing, of course, to either seller or buyer.
The Americans were loath to compete with other European 
powers as well. Neither the Spanish, nor Russian, nor 
English empires seemed destined to interfere with America’s 
manifest right to any contiguous land west of the original 
United States. This belief in Manifest Destiny colored 
contemporary American belief then, and throughout its 
subsequent history. When the United States 
obtained Florida in 1822, Texas in 1845, 
Oregon in 1846, and the northern part of 
Mexican territory between 1848 and 1854, 
most Americans believed the acquisitions to 
be borne out of natural right. 
The right to settle and dominate these lands seemed 
just as natural. Before and after the political expansion 
of the national frontier, settlers poured westward and 
11
taper off after the early 1880’s. A better railway network 
created more diverse and local shipment points. Diversified 
breeding, the development of wind-driven well-pumps, 
and the removal of native peoples created new ranchlands 
away from river valleys. More settlements required better 
boundaries. Barbed wire began marking property lines, 
impeding drives. New means of distribution took hold. 
No longer concentrated or channeled, the cattle business 
evolved into a huge, modern industry, and the age of the 
cowboy passed into history.
Cavalry
The United States Cavalry dates 
to 1776, when the first mounted 
unit joined Washington’s 
Continental Army. It wasn’t until 
1792, nine years after American 
independence, that Congress 
established the cavalry as an 
integral part of the army. In 
1832, the United States Mounted 
Battalion began protecting 
settlers moving along the old 
Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and New Mexico. They 
established a precedent for the numerous units that guarded 
the major trails to all points west. With the outbreak of the 
Mexican-American War (1846-48) and Civil War (1861-65), 
tens of thousands of men were trained in mounted combat. 
While heavily down-sized after 1865, the Cavalry presence 
on the frontier expanded. New garrisons appeared and large 
cavalry operations forced native peoples onto reservations. 
They policed the trails and even protected some federal lands 
(e.g., Yellowstone) from private exploitation. 
Coal
Largely carbon, coal is a dark, 
generally sedimentary rock 
found wherever large deposits 
of plant matter compressed 
and transformed beneath the 
earth. It is readily flammable 
and provides a handy source 
of fuel. While its use dates to 
around 4000 BCE, it only came 
into widespread use during 
the Middle Ages. Coal demand 
exploded during the Industrial Revolution, when coal 
mining became practical and the demand for steam—as 
opposed to water—power became prevalent. Early American 
settlers found coal throughout the Appalachian Mountains 
and developed a robust iron and steel industry. Some areas, 
notably Pennsylvania, proved rich in very hard, clean-
burning anthracite coal. By 1850, coal replaced wood as 
built farms and settlements. Using old trails as highways, 
Americans filled the West in an astoundingly short time. 
With the coming of Clipper Ships, steam-driven riverboats, 
the telegraph, and the vital railroads, rudimentary 
settlements became bustling boom-towns. Trails became 
rails and settlements became cities. And the West was won. 
The frontier became “civilized.” Thus, the Settlers of America 
achieved their goal—their Manifest Destiny.
The following sections pertain to cards and components 
in Settlers of America. They explore important themes in the 
settlement and development of the young United States.
Cattle
The Spanish settlers of the 
late 15th and 16th Century 
brought longhorn cattle to the 
New World. Ranching became 
common throughout Mexico, 
which expanded northward to 
encompass what is now Texas 
and California and the land in 
between. Mexican “vaqueros,” or 
“cowboys,” moved the herds on 
open ranges between precious 
water sources. Besides skins, the cows supplied beef. They 
were especially prized for tallow, which stored well and was 
used for fuel, soap, and cooking. While lean and only modest 
sources of tallow, the longhorn cattle that thrived in the 
arid West were an especially hardy breed. They consumed 
a diversity of vegetation and required little water compared 
to other breeds. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that 
expanded settlement, water drilling, and cross-breeding 
ended their dominance.
Cattle Drive
New settlers began ranching 
when Texas achieved 
independence in 1836. After 
Texas joined the U.S. in 1845, 
beef became more popular. 
During the Civil War, men like 
Jesse Chisholm established trails 
and drove cattle north and east 
to supply the Confederate army. 
Still, left largely untapped, herds 
grew. Texas was home to around 
5 million longhorns by 1865. With no market for them in 
the sparsely populated and impoverished South, enterprising 
livestock traders and cattlemen established new trails west 
of the hostile farming lands in eastern Kansas. They began 
driving cattle to so-called “cow towns” like Abilene, where 
the longhorns boarded trains bound for the slaughterhouses 
of big market cities like Chicago. Cattle drives began to 
12
the northern climes, while corn was king in more temperate 
areas. Farming exploded after settlers began plowing 
the rich open lands of the Great Plains further west. The 
development of better plows and new farming machinery— 
especially the seeder, reaper, thresher, and binder—allowed 
settlers to work increasingly larger farms. The arrival of 
barbed wire in 1874, coupled with the hybridizing of corn in 
1881, literally tamed the land. With steam-driven tractors, 
harvesters, and combines, agriculture took on a more 
industrial character. Where it required ≈250-300 labor-hours 
to produce 100 bushels of wheat in 1830, it only took about 
40-50 hours to harvest the same yield in 1890. By the end of 
the 19th Century America was already becoming the world’s 
preeminent “breadbasket.”
Engineer
By the time Benjamin 
Franklin established himself as 
an inventor and arguably the 
“world’s most famous man,” 
America had a rich tradition 
of ingenuity. Still, even with 
the Industrial Revolution, 
engineering only became a 
formal academic practice in the 
mid-19th century. Steam engines, 
especially those driving factories 
and (later) steamboats, spawned an increasing demand 
for learned artisans, mechanics, and ultimately engineers. 
the primary fuel in homes. It quickly became the dominate 
fuel for the steam engines that powered factories, ships, 
riverboats, and railway trains, which usually ran on cheaper, 
softer, dirtier bituminous coal. As settlers moved westward, 
they discovered new coal deposits. By the end of the 19th 
Century, America was the world’s leading coal producer.
Gold
In order to stabilize its post-war 
economy, the United States adopted a  
de facto Gold Standard in 1873. The $10 
Golden Eagle served as the preeminent 
national coin. Silver was de-monetized, 
provoking ire among western mining 
interests. Still, government money flowed westward in 
the form of huge infrastructure investments. Building a 
transcontinental railroad was considered one of the more 
important opportunities, so the U.S. government authorized 
two companies to build it: the Central Pacific, which started 
its rails in Sacramento, CA, and the Union Pacific, which 
started from Council Bluffs, IA. The government offered 
generous subsidies: companies received $16,000 per mile 
for flat land, $32,000 per mile for the high plains, and 
$48,000 per mile for mountainous land. They also received 
ownership of 400 feet of land on either side of the rails, and 
alternating 10 square-mile plots of land further off the track 
(the government retained the alternate plots).
Grain
European settlers coming to 
the Americas encountered native 
farming communities, many 
of which produced rich and 
diverse yields of New World crops. 
These included beans, squash, 
and a host of grains—notably 
long-manipulated varieties of 
sunflowers and maize (Indian 
corn). The new settlers embraced 
many native plants, adding them 
to a portfolio of Old World staples like wheat, rye, and barley. 
In time, farming prospered. Thomas Jefferson envisioned 
the United States as a land of independent farmers. He 
spoke of a continent dominated by self-sufficient family 
farms. Indeed, American farmers proved resourceful and 
productive. As the land filled and in some cases became 
exhausted, folks seeking rich farming opportunities moved 
westward. They cleared the omnipresent forests east of the 
Mississippi. Those that first crossed the Appalachians initially 
produced whiskey and other transportable goods for export 
to the eastern seaboard. With the development of Ohio and 
Mississippi river trade, grain production increased rapidly. 
Farmers produced grains of all sorts; but wheat dominated 
13
in order to have some semblance of order. Later, the General 
Mining Act of 1872 gave citizens of the U.S. the right to stake 
a claim to federal lands upon the discovery of minerals like 
gold, silver, lead and copper.
Native Support
Hostile native populations 
fought, killed, and died in a 
futile struggle to preserve their 
dominion, rights, and way of 
life. Native peoples engaged 
in trade and commerce with 
European settlers also provided 
local expertise and support. 
They taught settlers about edible 
and inedible foliage, medicines, 
geology, geography, weather, 
wildlife, etc. Native trails and trade routes gave birth to 
colonial commerce throughout the interior. Native crop 
rotation practices preserved the soil for farming. Native crops 
survived where Old World species struggled or perished. 
Without native support, many settlers suffered and died. So, 
support became crucial to the settlement of America. Aid and 
guidance from the Shoshone woman Sacagawea enabled the 
Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804-06 to explore the newly 
purchased Louisiana Territory, cross to the Pacific, and 
return home successfully without loss of life. 
Ore (Iron)
Any rocks that contain iron 
oxides can be considered iron ore. 
The most common compounds 
for commercial extraction are 
hematite, taconite, magnetite and 
goethite. Ore smelting requires 
coke and limestone to remove 
the oxygen from the compounds, 
leaving pig iron (a brittle metal 
high in carbon content). Some 
carbon is necessary in steel, but 
other metals are added to give steel its desired properties. 
Small amounts of nickel, manganese, chromium, vanadium 
make steel stronger, harder or rust resistant. 
Due to the stresses of train weight and speeds and 
prolonged exposure to the elements, railroad rails usually 
require a very high-grade steel. After Henry Bessemer 
patented his new mass production process in 1855,  steel 
replaced cast iron for most industrial applications. Expensive 
projects like bridges and railways became much more 
affordable. 
The first American engineering degree was offered in 1829. 
With the coming of the railway industry in 1830, demand 
for engineers exploded. While the Erie Canal had been 
constructed without even one engineer at the helm, railroad 
bridges, tunnels, and inclines required new skills. An 
engineering industry was born. The American Society of Civil 
Engineers and Architects was established in 1852; by the 
time of the Civil War, engineers were an integral part of both 
military and civilian life in America. They proved vital and 
active throughout the war, when patent filings doubled, and 
even more so during the building of the transcontinental 
telegraph and railroad (both completed in 1869).
Lumber
European settlers in the English 
colonies spoke of an endless 
ocean of tall, dark woodland, a 
forest wilderness rich in timber 
and without bounds. While native 
peoples had carved rich farmlands 
out of these vast woods, their 
modest numbers and stone tools 
restricted the harvest. Burning 
served to clear modest stands and 
undergrowth, but most of the land 
remained relatively untouched. 
With the coming of the steel axe, everything changed swiftly. 
The British Empire needed lumber for ships. Settlers needed 
it for their homes and tools. Wood fueled their fires. Wood 
pulp created paper and even drove the early steam engines. 
In fact, the demand for steamboat fuel, coupled with the ease 
of tree extraction and transport, created severe deforestation 
along America’s waterways. The coming of the railroad—
especially tough, nimble narrow-gauge lines—doomed 
woodlands everywhere. Population growth and civil war 
furthered the decline of the forests. By the end of the 19th 
Century, deforestation reached crisis proportions. When the 
conservation-minded Teddy Roosevelt became president in 
1901, concern grew to alarm and spurred action. To this 
day, we still struggle to find a good balance between lumber 
production and forest replenishment and preservation.
Mineral Rights
Mineral rights permit the owner 
to exploit and mine land. This 
includes the extraction, transport, 
and use of the minerals lying 
below the surface of property, 
even if it’s public land or 
someone else’s private domain. 
The Gold Rush miners were in a 
legal vacuum, and adopted the 
general rules that Mexico applied 
14
other), where a “train order,” or instructions to the driver, 
could be executed. Instructions could be communicated to 
the driver by using a signal consisting of an overhead arm. A 
train could be signaled to “proceed” (no orders) by leaving 
the arm vertical, “receive orders” (pick up orders without 
stopping) using a diagonal arm position, or “stop” (stop 
and receive orders, or wait for another train to pass) with a 
horizontal arm. This system, with the addition of a green, 
yellow and red light respectively, was used throughout the 
20th Century and is still in limited use.”
Scout
Because of their efforts to 
find the most easily-traversed 
and safest paths across the 
wilderness, scouts were critical 
to the U.S.’s westward expansion. 
Animal trappers (most notably 
those from the Hudson’s Bay 
Company) did most of the early 
work of exploring, particularly 
in the Northwest Territory and 
California. Kit Carson was an 
employee of Hudson’s Bay for 
a time, but became a guide for John C. Fremont, whose 
government-sponsored surveying explorations mapped out 
large portions of the Oregon Trail, and much of the land 
in between New Mexico and Oregon, 
including California.
Settler (Pioneer)
Westward expansion in the U.S. 
started as soon as settlers in the 
New World stepped off of their ships. 
Originally, the Mississippi River created 
a western boundary to American expansion, but with the 
Louisiana Purchase in 1803, America already had designs 
Rail
Following its introduction in the 
1830’s, America’s rail infrastructure 
exploded across the national landscape. 
By the outbreak of the Civil War, there 
were 24,000 miles of track in the Union 
States and another 9,000 miles of railway in the Confederacy, 
almost all of it east of the Mississippi.
During the Civil War, the U.S. government passed the 
Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864, authorizing bonds to 
finance a coast-to-coast rail line. Two companies, the Union 
Pacific and the Central Pacific, combined to lay over 1,700 
miles of track to complete the transcontinental railroad 
at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869. A “golden 
spike” was used to commemorate the occasion (this spike 
is now on display at Stanford University). What was once a 
6-month journey had become a 1-week train ride. 
Most rail in the U.S. is 4 feet, 8½ inches wide (called 
“standard gauge”). Track wider than this is “broad 
gauge”; smaller widths are “narrow gauge.” The width was 
established by George Stephenson in 1830 and had become 
an international standard by the 1840’s.
Right of Way
Because much of the track that 
trains travel handle traffic in two 
directions, modern-day railroads 
use a network of computers 
and sensors to track and route 
traffic. During the 19th century, 
strict rules as to how right-of-
way should be exercised were 
developed. In general, scheduled 
trains were coordinated at a 
train order station (a station 
with multiple tracks that would allow trains to pass each 
15
time consuming route goes through the mountains. The 
other, quicker route (called the Cimarron Cutoff) is 
more hazardous due to the limited availability of water. 
Both routes end up in Santa Fe after 1200 miles.
• The Old Spanish Trail starts in Santa Fe, New Mexico and 
travels northwest (to avoid the Grand Canyon) through 
Utah, then heads southwest to Los Angeles, California. 
The 1200-mile path, though dangerous (floods in the 
winter, dry in the summer), was a well-traveled path 
from 1830 through the 1850’s.
These trails remained important. First railroads built 
tracks along these routes, and then the modern-day 
interstate highways were built along these same paths. 
Train (Steam Locomotive)
Although early trains used gravity 
or animals for propulsion, the first 
full-scale steam engine was operated 
in 1804 in England. Although 
British locomotives were imported 
during the start of the locomotive 
era in the 1830’s, domestic 
production was soon established due 
to the differences in need. American 
locomotives were designed to be 
long-distance haulers, cheap to build and easy to maintain, 
operating on tracks that could be inconsistent at best. 
A fireman puts wood or coal into the locomotive engine’s 
firebox to create heat. This heat travels to the boiler, creating 
steam (and pressure). This steam pushes into engine 
cylinders that operate the wheels (in addition to the brakes, 
whistles and other systems). The steam then circulates back 
into the exhaust system, with the spent material from the 
heat system being vented out through the smokestack.
on coast-to-coast expansion. The Land Act of 1804, and 
more notably, the Homestead Act of 1862 created the paths 
by which a person could apply for a tract of land, improve it, 
and eventually claim ownership.
Trails
Trails were 
critical to 
American westward 
expansion. A 
good trail allowed 
settlers to travel in 
relative confidence 
knowing that they 
were going in the 
right direction, to 
a known destination, along paths affording good transport, 
and often in the company of or proximity to others. Men like 
Kit Carson and John C. Fremont were renowned for their 
skills at identifying paths that others could travel.
Four of the major western trails include:
• The Oregon Trail (starting in Independence, Missouri 
and ending in the Oregon Territory). Between a quarter-
million and a half-million people traveled this route 
between 1841 and 1866. It stretched about 2000 miles, 
at a time when a wagon train averaged 12-15 miles a day.
• The California Trail was established with the gold rush of 
the 1840’s and 1850’s. A quarter million people traveled 
the 2000 miles of the trail, following the Oregon Trail 
as far as Fort Hall, Idaho before veering south towards 
California. Many traces of this trail remain visible today.
• Established to supply settlers in New Mexicohe, the 
Santa Fe Trail starts in Independence, Missouri. It then 
splits into two separate routes. The northern, more 
CREDITS
www.MayfairgaMes.coM
You have purchased a game of  
the highest quality. However,  
if you find any components  
missing, please contact us for  
replacement pieces at 
 custserv@mayfairgames.com
Design: Klaus Teuber (www.klausteuber.com)
Cover Art: Mark Zug  
Map Art: Harald Lieske, Pete Fenlon
Card Art: David Cochard, Pete Fenlon
Graphic Design: Pete Fenlon
Translation: Gavin Allister, Guido Teuber
Development: Guido Teuber, Pete Fenlon, 
Coleman Charlton, Alex Yeager
Special Thanks: Peter Bromley, Robert T. Carty, Jr., 
Robert T. Carty, Sr., Dan Decker, Bill Fogarty, Nick Johnson, Kim 
McBrady, Marty McDonnell, Bridget Roznai, Larry Roznai, Loren 
Roznai, Guido Teuber, Bill Wordelmann, Elaine Wordelmann
Playtesting: Carol Candido, John Crowll, Morgan Dontanville, 
Dr. Reiner Düren, Kurt Fischer, Olivia Johnston,  
Sarah Kemble Knight (LSKC 1/617), Jesse McGatha, Ron Magin, 
Jim Plane, Nasair Plane, Dave Platnick, Rich Rowan, Benny Teuber, 
Claudia Teuber.
Copyright © 2010 Catan GmbH. Catan, Catan Histories, The Settlers of Catan, 
Settlers of America, and Trails to Rails are trademark properties of Catan 
GmbH. All rights reserved. By license from Catan GmbH. See www.catan.com.
16
FIxED STARTING SET-uP FOR YOuR FIRST FEW GAMES
We suggest that you use this starting set-up for your 
first few games. Once you feel comfortable with the flow of 
the game, you can use the variable set-up detailed in the 
appendix on pages 8-9.  That allows you to randomly place 
the number tokens on the single question mark hexes.  You 
and the other players take turns placing your starting pieces.
You begin the game with 3 resource cards: 
<“Red” Player ......................................1 coal, 2 grain
<“Orange” Player ..................1 cattle, 1 coal, 1 grain
<“White” Player.......................1 cattle, 1 grain, 1 ore
<“Blue” Player .................................................3 grain
</p>