Jesse Meeker and Riley Fourkiller establish the first ranches along Osage Creekin northwest Arkansas, where they raise horses and mules. Jesse helps Captain Randolph Marcy blaze the 1849 California Trail and chases the murderers of Lieutenant Harrison, grandson of President Harrison. Back home, the family has to deal with nightriding hoodlums and after an attack on their home, Jesse sells out and moves his family back to the Village on the Middle Fork. The family first travel the Cherokee Trail (not the Trail of Tears) west with gold-seeking Cherokees. They stay at Bent's New Fort, trading horses and mules with travelerson the Santa Fe Trail. Zenas and brother Jake stay, managing William Bent's horse herd. Then the Civil War erupts, and things get even more unsettled forthe family...