In late 1850 Hannah Bramwell arrives in Oregon City to help her widowed brother raise his children, only to discover his new wife does not want Hannah in their home. With no wilderness experience and a leg disabled in childhood, Hannah must learn to survive on her own. Zeke Pershing, an Oregon farmer, loves the pristine woodlands from which he wrests his livelihood. But family tragedy leaves him with overwhelming responsibilities, and new homestead laws threaten to take half his land. Brought together by necessity, Hannah and Zeke confront quarrelsome neighbors, ruthless thieves, and their own sorrows and fears as each struggles to find peace and prosperity on the untamed frontier.