Zane Grey takes the reader on a voyage through rivers, forests, valleys, cliffs and mountains of wild Ohio in the final book of the Ohio River Trilogy. It is a beautiful and hostile landscape. The border patrol Jonathan Zane and Lewis Wetzel protect the white pioneer settlers from marauding Indians and renegade settlers who keep attacking sporadically.

The lovely Betty Sheppard, a settler, takes a love interest in Jonathan, and he starts to think about a future far from his dangerous job. When Betty is kidnapped at Fort Henry, his decision is made for him as he saddles up to ride in hot pursuit.