When the Panic of 1837 creates hard times, a dauntless band of pioneering men and women journey from Long Island to Missouri with the hopes of eventually finding a better future in the rich Oregon Territory.

In autumn of 1837, blazing onward from the eastern shores, to Missouri, the legendary wagon train sent by U.S. President Andrew Jackson has reached the last outpost of civilization. Now, five hundred strong, these brave pioneers set a course across the great rolling plains toward the treacherous Rockies, hoping to stake a claim in the American West.