Jonny McKinzey eagerly anticipates a long-overdue reunion with his father and stepbrother. After a harrowing journey on the Oregon Trail, he rides over the last hill to their ranch on the Willamette River. ...only to discover the burnt remains of his home! Standing by his father's grave blind rage fills him and he vows revenge on those who took everything from him. When he learns his old nemesis' is responsible for John McKinzey's brutal murder, neither his best friend, Quinn, nor his stepbrother Shepherd can talk him out of going after the killers. Alone he blazes a bloody trail of death, burning down a town before getting seriously wounded.

Shepherd and Quinn desperately search for Jonny, only to find him on the verge of death. Taken in by a Shoshone tribe Jon slowly heals in both body and spirit. Convinced by Sheperd that he must return to clear his name, Jon reluctantly returns home. Will Jon be found guilty and hang? Will the mobs drag him from jail and kill him in the streets, or worse, will he spend the rest of his life in a stifling prison for avenging his father?