In 1857, Ross Nickerson, a young man with-as the deans of Harvard College describe it--"an undue bent toward mischief," leaves school and his wealthy New England inheritance in search of broader fields for his adventurous nature. Drinking, gambling, dueling, killing and breathless adventure are what he finds in the mountains of Montana. Miners, mountain men, thieves, Indians, saloon girls, gamblers, quack doctors and stern vigilantes are the people he encounters. And one young, beautiful, untamed daughter of the West.