Runaway Jim Keath, trapping for beaver in the vast wild country beyond the Missouri River, is left for dead after a grizzly's attack. Found and adopted by Crow Indians, he grows up knowing only the chase, the tepee, the broad plains of Absaroka and the Indian's wandering, restless life. By the time he returns to trapping he finds the world of the "mountain man" in ruins—the beaver gone, himself adrift and lonely. A mysterious letter, signed by a brother he has not seen in nine years, points a new trail—to Oregon and reunion with a family he has all but forgotten.

Half-savage and wholly undomesticated, Jim is a shock to his sister and brothers, who, orphaned on the wagon-trail across the continent, seek a home and a future in Oregon. It is a strange and difficult meeting; but far worse is the road ahead, which begins when Jim, his mule Bad Medicine, his beautiful stolen mare Buckskin, and Moki, his wolf-like dog, join forces with the younger Keaths to fight their way . . .

From the dust jacket