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Captain Culpepper refurbished his steamboat to withstand the rigors of navigating the Missouri River from St. Louis to Fort Benton, Montana. The vessel would be the largest steamboat to ever make the trip, but it was well equipped, powerful, and had a shallow draft. He hired the most competent pilots and officers available as well as a young Civil War veteran, Danny Barton, to keep the peace on board. The Captain's careful preparations promised an uneventful trip, but that was before he took on passengers. A variety of characters booked passage on the river boat, including three deadly brothers, a Union traitor, a woman fleeing her past, and a girl seeking to avenge her brother's death. Add to this the treacherous, muddy Missouri River with her snags and sandbars, marauding Indians, incompetent wharfmasters and flatboat operators, and it will take all of the Captain's resolve and his crew's skill to avoid disaster.

Young James Whipwell believes there is more to life than working on his father's farm in Indiana. The Civil War has been over for five years, the transcontinental railroad is opening the West, and he wants to be on his own, away from the farm. The conditional offer of a deputy's job in Wyoming convinces him to break with his domineering father and head west. Jimmy boards the westbound Pacific Express in Fort Wayne, the same train that carries Mary Ann Bringham, who is traveling to be reunited with her father, the Marshal, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. When Jimmy meets Mary Ann, their attraction is instantly felt, but when a gang stops the train near Cheyenne, neither Jimmy nor Marshal Bringham can prevent the robbery and the kidnapping of his beautiful new friend.

1866. The steamer Barnard Clinton is going to try to make a record second trip to the head of navigation on the Missouri River. Captain Culpepper and his crew will have to deal with outlaws, low water, more outlaws, Native Americans, and a young pilot who can't seem to keep the Clinton off the bottom of the river.