In the 1840s in southern Indiana, a man lived who wanted it all: power, fame, money and women. He built a world-class hotel, was a famous physician, opened a successful apothecary and married a beautiful Southern belle, who in secret was his first cousin. He also later took a second wife, as if his cousin weren't enough. If only he hadn't been so arrogant. In the Mexican-American War, his friend James Whitcomb, the Governor of Indiana, awarded him the title of Colonel. The man knew he hadn't the knowledge or experience for the job and decided to stay in the background. Unfortunately, he couldn't. In the heat of battle, he called a cease-fire and retreat. The Second Indiana regiment came home branded as cowards, and it was all because of one man: William Bowles. While Bowles was busy satisfying his every desire, others were carving out farms from the wilderness and building southern Indiana into the area that it has become today. Interspersed with the bizarre story of William Bowles, found out how the pioneers lived in the 1840s and how they settled a part of southern Indiana.