Haywood, Tennessee - 1849 When the word of gold being struck in California sweeps the country, Elizabeth Ryder has very little interest in the news. More focused on her family and her lifelong sweetheart, Benjamin Shaw, the thought of wealth means nothing to her. But when the opportunity arises for her little sister to have an operation that will correct her twisted legs, her parents struggle to find the resources to pay for it. The family decides to head west to find gold--leaving her beloved Benjamin behind. Elizabeth is already heartbroken and lonely out west, but when her sister falls ill with deadly malaria, her whole world comes crashing down. Will she find a way to heal her sister and reunite with her love, or will everything she's ever cared about be taken away from her?