America Hollis, unmarried, pregnant with a baby of a man who has died at sea must find a husband. She hastily marries a lawyer and they set off for the west on the Oregon Trail. On the trail their wagon train encounters many dangers cholera, Indians and death. When her baby arrives, America is left for dead on the trail and the members of the wagon train move on taking her child. She is found barely alive by the Paiute Indians. She learns the Indian's way of life and is nursed back to health. She decides she must go in search of her child. ( )