Seventeen-year-old Breckinridge Wallace is a pioneer whose fearless instincts have finally landed him in trouble with an Indian enemy. Now, from the bustling streets of St. Louis to the vast stillness of the Missouri headwaters, Breck is discovering a new world of splendor, violence, promise and betrayal on his way to the new frontier. Most of all, he is clawing his way to manhood behind the law of the gun.