In the fall of 1902, Portland's trestle bridges linking parts of the city across ravines and bog lands began collapsing. Labor union operative, Sage Adair, is observing a carpenter's union strike line. As the rain falls and the carpenters march for an eight hour day, the situation turns life threatening when the lumber mill owner's goons, safely atop huge horses and carrying long staves, ride down on the peaceful picketers.

Within days the situation becomes dire when the mill owner's body is discovered within the charred remains of the company offices. All fingers point to the union president who is soon behind bars in Portland's dank basement jail. Sage has no choice but to embark on the mission of proving the man innocent. As the story unwinds, the falling trestles become key to solving the murder. As does the unlikely assistance of Portland's iconic ragpicker poet.

This exciting tale is crafted around the true history of Portland's falling trestle bridges, municipal corruption, and the city's very real ragpicker poet.