CALIFORNIA, 1908. Andy Maxwell sets out to solve the mystery surrounding the stabbing death of his younger brother outside a San Francisco bar. He's convinced the murder is part of a vendetta against his family, but frustration and suspense mount as he fails to convince authorities that the killing is anything more than the sad consequence of a brawl between a pair of drunks.

Andy's quest for the motives and perpetrators behind the scheme carries him from California to Wyoming and deep into his family's pioneer past and psyche, where he unearths disturbing secrets about his racial heritage. It also plunges him into a romantic dilemma involving a blonde debutant and an Arapaho princess. Andy's initial purpose is to foil a conspiracy, but his journey leads him to question not only his own values but also of the frontier that spawned and nourished them.