In the summer of 1858, Jedediah P. Carpenter finds himself orphaned at the age of 16 on the plains of Nebraska Territory. Faced with a choice between making his way west to Oregon to join his uncle and aunt, or heading southwest to Pikes Peak country to try his hand at gold prospecting, his fate is sealed by forces beyond his control. Join Jed as he pursues a life of his own making in the American west with the help of generous mountain men and plains Indians, an itinerant Methodist preacher, and the alluring Emma Cooper.
