Under constant threat of Indian attack, a handful of white trappers and traders lived short, violent lives, painfully aware that their next breath could be their last. With only raw courage to aid them, Nathaniel King and other pioneers braved the savage Rockies to claim the freedom they found there. But when a deadly dispute among rival tribes blew up into a bloody war, Nate had to make peace between the enemies - or he and his young family would be the first to lose their scalps.