Part 1. A roguish French-Canadian trapper becomes partners with a fugitive Scotsman on the late 18th century American frontier.

Part 2: 1809-1830. Pasquinel prospects for gold, raises two sons by his Arapaho wife, then returns to St. Louis for a bittersweet reunion with his left-behind wife.

Part 3: 1845. A wagon train headed west from St. Louis includes a Mennonite outcast and his wife, an Army captain and a grizzled frontier guide.

Part 4: 1846-1860. Broken treaties imperil relations between the Native Americans, settlers and the US Army.

Part 5. A fanatical Army colonel orders a massacre of unarmed native Americans, precipitating a wave of revenge and recriminations.

Part 6. A trail boss recruits a motley crew of greenhorns and old hands to herd 3000 longhorns from Texas to Colorado.