Those who followed the treacherous, sidewinding course of the Snake were carried to some of the most bounteous country on earth, the virgin Pacific Northwest. Flare O’Flaherty, son of Ireland, mountain trapper, and gambler, signs on to lead a group of missionaries downriver to the remote headquarters of the mighty Hudson’s Bay Company. Along the way he faces the greatest challenges of a wandering man’s lifetime in the form of Margaret Jewell, a beautiful and strong-willed teacher of Indian children, and a young Shoshone, Sima, who seeks the white father he never knew. Together they will find their destiny along the tumultuous river that bears the shape of a serpent and holds the promise of home.
