From the wilds of western Oregon on the banks of the Snake River, young Jake Zane is offered a job he can't refuse.
Locusts have cleaned out his fields, and it's been survival from hunting and trapping. A decent wage and found, and the promise of a fat bonus...if he lives to collect it...
He's compelled to sign on as a wagon and mule train guard into unchartered territory, from Oregon to gold rush San Francisco. All that's between him and a bonus that will carry Jake and his family through another year, are hundreds of savages, weather, a Sierra crossing, and wild animals on rugged trails.
It's get there with the cargo, or all is lost.