A Mormon family sets sail to America and travels west to a new life in Utah. In reaching their destination, the Thomas family survives disease, hunger and the perils of an untamed continent . The children, Ruth and Richard are discontent in their new home. Richard runs away with prospectors, Joseph, their father, leaves to fight Lincoln's Union army, and Ruth and her ailing mother set out for Salt Lake City. En route, Ruth is kidnapped by Indians. Separated from one another, each member of the Thomas family discovers that freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. Apart and on their own, changed by their experience, once again they set out to build anew. This time retracing their journey.