In 1890, after spending years reading Wild West dime novels, young Benjamin Hopkins became obsessed with the desire to live an exciting life just like his hero, Wild Bill Hickok. His plan to abandon his uneventful existence in New York was encouraged when his father gave him half of a gold medallion and told him that if it was put with the other half that belonged to his cousin out west, the inscription would indicate where millions in gold nuggets were buried by his great-grandfather. What Ben did not anticipate was the misery he would have to endure in AmericaA[a–a[s untamed west. His first day there, he was beaten and robbed. Not long after, he was forced to confront the challenges of western life with courage and physical bravery in an uphill battle that almost gets him killed.