Edmund Proft grew up in Connecticut and discovered his parents found him in the New Mexico Territory as an infant. He became a doctor and after his parents’ deaths; he went to his birthplace in Wild River, New Mexico Territory. He develops a friendship with a woman, Abigail Lester. She has a face disfigured by severe burn scars. He also discovers he has a brother who was raised by an elderly couple who distill and sell whiskey for a living. The brother has a deep hatred for Navahos and Mexicans. Their lives were affected by the fall of the Alamo and the massacre at Dragoon Springs. The brothers were involved in gun fights, fist fights, horse theft, and a tornado.