In this historical romance, in 1850 Baltimore a young woman expects to make a suitable marriage until she suffers a savage attack causing her to flee her home to make her way west with a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. She risks traveling alone until it becomes necessary to rely on others. Along the way she faces her own ruined self-image, finds her strengths and finds love in an unexpected meeting. Her trip west becomes a trip toward self-discovery as she adapts to the rough life of the trail, and learns to rely on new friends and a husband she acquires in a unexpected situation. Meanwhile, her tormentor from Baltimore continues to seek her as he himself heads west.