Confederate cavalry officer James McKane escapes from Union confinement in Nashville and makes his way back to his family home near Clarksville, Tennessee. He finds the once elegant estate in ruins and his family devastated. Worse, his wife and children, believing him to have been killed in the war, have left Tennessee for Oregon. In Oregon, Kate struggles with the harsh climate and the business problems of her uncle, Lewis Harrington. When her uncle is murdered, Kate is forced to assume a leadership role to protect the interests of a group of destitute settlers; a responsibility that may prove to be more than she can handle. James begins a harrowing trek across the post war frontier to find his lost family. He is forced to deal with remnants of guerrilla bands from the war, hostile Indians, dangerous river crossings-and his prejudices. Through fate, James finds himself traveling with an African-American mountain man, Wilford Johnson. As a result of James's own short-sightedness, he and Wilford are forced to spend the winter in a Blackfoot camp. By the time he reaches Oregon, James is forced to reexamine the ideals of his upbringing and confront his prejudices. Reunited in Oregon, James and Kate, with Wilford's help, confront the lawlessness that has plagued Kate since the loss of her uncle.