A western adventure story taking place in the 1830's during the fur trade in the lands around Bent's Fort and Taos. Two boyhood friends, Avery MacDonnell and George LeMaitre, grow up reading the Journals of Lewis and Clark. They long to leave their homes in New Orleans and go out onto the wild frontier. A twist of fate forces that upon them and they end up fighting for their lives with men sent to hunt them down and against the Great White Bear, the Plains Grizzly. After finding the women destined to change their lives, they meet William and Charles Bent, Ceran St. Vrain, Kit Carson and other colorful men associated with the adobe castle/trading post known as Bent's Fort. Meticulously researched for historic accuracy, this book also deals with issues we face today: the clash of cultures, each one with insights and flaws, the foibles and gifts of strong-willed people and the struggles and rewards that come to couples who decide to build a life together. The setting, the unspoiled West of pre-gold rush times, can be a harsh land, every bit as deadly as hauntingly beautiful. She woos the newcomers until they are caught in her spell and cannot leave. Unlike in the East, the men who come out West take Native and Mexican women as wives and start families. This brings the women status not seen again until modern times. Few people realize that the thousands of buffalo hides that fueled the economy here and back East, were all laboriously brain-tanned into soft pliable leather by the Native women. While not a utopia, the life out West is free from many of the ills that come with more people, more government and more civilization. Avery and George come to realize that as hard as life can be on the Frontier, they never want to live anywhere else.