In 1849, mercurial Rollin Ridge leaves his family behind to avoid hanging after avenging his father and grandfather's assassinations.

After his crime, Rollin runs west with his brothers to mine California gold, packing sin and grief in his saddlebags. Through letters home, he finds his justice only after unearthing how the father's sins have followed the son. Within the frame, from 1827-1835, Rollin's parents, Cherokee John Ridge, and his white wife, Sarah, uncover illicit slave running, horse theft, and whiskey dealings across Cherokee territory. To end these inhumane crimes and fight Cherokee removal with President Andrew Jackson, John runs for Principal Chief, opposing the incumbent, Chief John Ross. John and Sarah must decide: fight discrimination and land greed, defy Georgia's violent pressures and remain on his people's ancestral land, or sign a treaty and uproot a nation and their family west.