Central Kansas Library System

The saga of men and women caught up in the great adventure of America's westward drive.

In the 1840s a band of stalwart volunteers from Oregon make the treacherous journey through Mexican territory to lead a wagon train to the Texas frontier. Among their protectors is a ruggedly handsome young captain who holds the destiny of Texas in his hands and another man's woman in his heart.

While Clay and his band lead an expedition up the Yellowstone River, brother Jeff Holt heads back east on a treacherous quest ; impetuous young cousin Ned takes to the high seas ; and in the east, Melissa Holt struggles against the unscrupulous business man who means to have her.

This is the story of fearless devotion to a hard-won ideal, of betrayal from within and sabotage that reaches as far Britain's and Imperial Russia's shores, of Indian uprising and natural disaster. And above all, it is the story of "Whip" Holt.

The first wagon train to Oregon country moves slowly across the Great Plains, reaching the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in early autumn. Before these brave pioneers lie endless miles of hardship and danger, treachery and death. Beneath their struggle for survival lie hidden rivalries, unspoken secrets, and burning jealousies that threaten to consume them all. But in their hearts beats the dream of a new beginning in a promised land - the unstoppable...