Spring, 1849. The first male child born in the newly established Republic of Texas, Eli McCullough is 13 years old when a marauding band of Comanches storms his homestead and brutally murders his mother and sister, taking him captive. Brave and clever, Eli quickly adapts to life among the Comanches, learning their ways and language, answering to a new name, becoming the chief's adopted son, and waging war against their enemies, including white men--which complicates his sense of loyalty and understanding of who he is. But when disease, starvation, and overwhelming numbers of armed Americans decimate the tribe, Eli finds himself alone.

A tale of two men: One who builds a grass empire of cattle and horses on the vast Dakota prairie; the other who follows a trail of violence and bloodshed.