Amelia hesitantly follows her husband’s dream of heading west during the 1848 California gold rush. His rash decision to go ahead of the caravan results in his death at the hands of Indians, but Amelia survives. Alone in a wilderness that she never wanted to travel, she must find civilization with virtually no survival skills or supplies.

A young man fights for the one thing that can get him out of life's vicious cycle: an education. James Wilson is a gifted scholar living in a dark world surrounded by human obstacles. Fighting within his inner circle threatens his chance. James' teacher pries to see what his future can hold, but tragedy strikes, and it is enough to make James doubt it all.