In the 1870s, when Joseph Cook's closest friend is murdered by a man who escapes justice, Joseph quits his thirty-year railroad career and returns to the New River landscape of his youth, hoping to buy a farm, reunite with what's left of his family on Broomstraw Ridge, and find peace. An expert at bridge construction, Joseph finds the bridges he most wants to build surpass his skill, however. His goals are further thwarted by unexpected obstacles...