Alex O'Keefe had a dream. Fired up with visions of an empire and millions of acres for the taking in New Mexico Territory, he set out from Texas to make his dream a reality. His wife, Joanna, became caught up in her husband’s enthusiasm, sold the family holdings, then boarded a train to meet him. She had no idea what lay before her.

When Joanna arrived, her own dreams were nearly shattered. Alex was dead, murdered by an unknown killer. And the empire they had planned was threatened by exorbitant cattle fees charged by the railroad. But dreams die hard. Joanna would do whatever she had to, even if that meant taking the cattle on a brutal overland trail drive to San Diego, across the Mojave Desert.