Bethan listened as her father explained to her mother the mission that he was giving to her brother, Lynn, and her Uncle Bryn. After she’s heard all of the details, she left the big house and returned to her small house where she began to pack. She was frustrated at being unable to apply the skills that she’d been learning from her father since she was just a young girl, knowing that if she’d been born male, she would have been sworn in as a deputy marshal within a year. 

Zach Connors, known as Grizzly Killer, travels with his family through the rugged and mysterious canyons where the Anasazi once built their homes high on the cliffs. The year is 1833, and they are going to Taos for the supplies they will need for another year living in the Rocky Mountains. Before reaching the Taos Valley, they face dangers from the unforgiving and rugged land, and they must cross the mighty Colorado, Green, and San Juan Rivers. 

In the spring of 1832, Zach Connors and his family have survived another winter in the Rocky Mountains. It was a winter without the supplies they usually enjoyed. In 1828, William Reed built a trading post on the Uintah River, just over the mountains from Zach’s home on Blacks Fork. Reed received supplies from Santa Fe each spring and fall, making his trading post the best source of supplies west of the great divide.

Private Jake Elliott was apprehensive as he walked to the commander’s office. He couldn’t think of a single transgression that would have attracted the major’s attention. When he left the command building 10 minutes later, he was still numbed by the short visit. Tomorrow, he would no longer be a cavalryman, but would be returning to the family ranch outside of Fort Benton in Montana Territory. But it was the reason he was being discharged before his enlistment expired that had been the biggest shock.

Tennessee, 1830. Floyd Logan yearns to go west. So after the 16-year-old deadeye impresses a wagon train captain by winning his first turkey shoot, he’s thrilled when he’s offered the opportunity to go to work on the Santa Fe Trail. But before they can leave town, Floyd is ambushed by a cowardly outlaw who beats him and steals his prize pistols.