Franklin T. Stilwell, 15, and Brady McCall, 10, are thrown together in St. Joseph, Missouri where their families will join an ill-fated wagontrain heading west in the spring. They quickly become inseparable friends, finagle paying jobs for the winter, and trade their pay for two Indian ponies that will change the course of their lives. Halfway across the unsettled frontier, they are the only survivors of a brutal massacre. Their struggle...