During a trip back to the village of his Crow wife, Victoria, she is abducted by a deadly band of Blackfeet, and Skye must risk his life to rescue her, following a trail that takes him back to Canada, where he is still wanted by the British Navy for deserting his ship, four years ago.

Capitalism comes to the American West -- and the Copper Kings of Butte, Montana, wrestle each other and Montana's fledgling government for control of the "richest hill on earth." When newsman John Fellowes Hall arrives in Butte, he sees a mess of smoky mine boilers and makeshift sheds. It's ugly as sin, but it's the best place to get rich. It's also a city full of stories. As an employee of mining titan William Andrews Clark, Hall finds himself involved...

Ulysses McQueen and Stephen Jarvis are both caught up in the California gold rush of 1849, but McQueen is haunted by guilt over the wife he left behind in Iowa, and Jarvis, an ex-soldier in love with Rita Concepcion Estrada, must deal with her family's hatred for the conquering Yanquis.