"The story of a vaudeville troupe that makes its way to Western mining towns"--

Capitalism comes to the American West -- and the Copper Kings of Butte, Montana, wrestle each other and Montana's fledgling government for control of the "richest hill on earth." When newsman John Fellowes Hall arrives in Butte, he sees a mess of smoky mine boilers and makeshift sheds. It's ugly as sin, but it's the best place to get rich. It's also a city full of stories. As an employee of mining titan William Andrews Clark, Hall finds himself involved...

After a failed expedition to find a railway route to the West along the 38th parallel, Frémont finds himself trapped in the snowbound Colorado mountains. His choices are simple: die, or fight his way out.

In the midst of a brutal winter, Skye's beloved Crow Indian wife, Victoria, is critically wounded when a Blackfoot raiding party attacks a Crow hunting camp. Despite Skye's attempts at doctoring, Victoria's life hangs in the balance as the two, left alone in the frozen wilderness, struggle to survive cold and starvation.

Working as a guide for wealthy Englishman Graves Duplessis Mercer, mountain man Barnaby Skye finds their lives in danger when they visit a Missouri River valley filled with gigantic fossils of ancient monsters, a region sacred to local tribes.

When a dour fifteen-year-old Shoshone is prompted by a total eclipse to rename himself after a dreaded totemic bird and stirring discontent on the Wind River Reservation, schoolteacher Dirk, the son of Barnaby Skye, struggles to mediate a dangerous uprising.