Growing up on the Grand Kankakee Marsh in the 1800s was a life that Tyler Tomas loved. Hunting and fishing with his grandpa filled his days. His best friend Wil would join him in adventures through the nearby forest. It was a perfect world until youth was left behind. Life brought Tyler Tomas from the Grand Kankakee Marsh to the Devil's Tower. Each turn on the trail took a bit of his innocence.
In 1840 the demand for beaver was gone, leaving the mountain men searching for another way to survive.
Life in the mountains had sheltered Beau Levesque from the realization of time passing. The next vista to view, or the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge, had been enough. With age came doubt of what he'd really accomplished. This doubt drove him to the Artic and back.His envy of those who had succeeded in creating a family left him with an emptiness that the next horizon wouldn't fulfill. The war between the North and South offers a purpose that brings him back east. Beau must decide: Should he fight for his southern roots, or join forces against them? Little does he know that coming events would make this question the least of his worries.
Haunted by doubts of his carefree lifestyle, Beau accepts an opportunity to guide a wagon train over mountains he loves and to what could be the promised land. His desire to have a home and family clashes with the excitement and freedom of the mountains. He faces a life and death struggle on the Oregon Trail to find the answer.
Life on the potato farm in Maine offered little of the adventure the young Amos Mudd longed for. Reading the news of gold in California became an escape for him and finally his objective. The hardships of making the long trek and abandoning his father could only hold him back for so long.
Dan and Mary August lived in the valley of their dreams, raising cattle and their young daughter. Unexpected challenges shatter the dreams, forcing them to fight for the life they had chosen. Prayer and a steady gun-hand become Dan's constant companions.
Determined to fulfill his dream after the death of his brother, Tom comes face to face with the wild forces of the western frontier. Working through the challenges that stand in his way, the young man struggles to survive as he fights, bleeds, and loves, earning his right to be a mountain man.
At the request of his wife, Joan, Oli August faces the uncertainties and dangers of the wild Kansas plains and the distrust of soldiers to discover the truth about a theft and murder. The army has charged Joan’s brother with the crime and will schedule him to be hung at Fort Leavenworth.
Bart had lived a hard life, scouting for the army, guiding wagon trains, and brawling in more saloons than he could remember. His scarred fists and the Dragoon on his hip had dealt justice to all comers. Tired of the fighting, drinking, sleeping in stables or waking up in the street, Bart Nevell is determined to change, look up a past love and build a ranch in Texas.
Beau and Eli flee Arkansas with the law close behind. Their only option is to head for the 19th century frontier, equipped with little of the experience needed to survive the rigors of living and surviving in the Rocky Mountains. The mountain man life provides them with the refuge they need as they struggle to keep one step ahead of the dangers that threaten to take their lives. Little do they know that the life they have chosen is threatened by something that all the strength and knowledge of mountain men can’t defeat.