The story takes us with two families traveling by riverboat and ox-cart, in 1859, to homestead on land newly ceded to the United States by Sioux Indians. Friendly coexistence between the Whites and the Indians erupts into warfare through a series of events beyond the control of the settlers and their native neighbors. The result is the largest single massacre and the largest mass hanging in the history of the United States. The story intertwines the lives of the families with documented history of battles, savage and cruel acts, historical people and other events.