Bonner's Den is a sweeping saga beginning with a teenage boy, Fergus, leaving a hardscrabble farm in the Tennessee mountains and a young woman, Morgan, leaving a failing Ohio farm with her husband and young son. They all head west and finally meet near Pierce, Idaho during the Pierce gold rush. Morgan and her husband headed initially for the California gold fields before heading for Pierce. Fergus made his way west, working as a muleskinner on the Santa Fe trail, mountain man, lumberjack in the redwoods, and cowboy. Morgan's husband was killed and much of their gold stolen. Fergus was ambushed, shot, robbed, and left for dead. Morgan and her son nursed him back to health. Fergus recovers his and Morgan's gold, they run into the Idaho wilderness, and establish Bonner's Den. The remainder of the book focuses on their struggle to survive and thrive in a hostile environment.