In 1852, a young Missouri family becomes separated by the lure of gold and new dreams to be found out in the Oregon territory. Traveling in wagon trains and aboard ships, on pony and by foot, their quests take them four times crossing the North and Central American continent as they strive to find each other. This true story recounts each of James' and Elizabeth Bushnell's perilous journeys in order to be reunited as a family. Individually, they face many hardships among some of the earliest wagon train crossings. Once in the Oregon territory, James additionally endures unusual perils including a typhoid epidemic, near starvation, and losing his precious gold when the Shasta City bank burns down. Traveling back east by steamships, he encounters lightning strikes, fires, participates in a burial at sea, and even a shipwreck. Meanwhile, alone back in Missouri, Elizabeth grows weary caring for their infant son and managing their struggling farm.. Without mail or communication reaching either of them, Elizabeth sells the farm and joins a wagon train heading out west. James' mother and two brothers make the move along with her. In the Idaho area, they listen to an inexperienced guide and leave the majority of wagons to take a new, southern route to the middle Willamette Valley. This proves disastrous!