Oregon--a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of towering timber, snow-capped peaks, lush, fertile valleys. A land of gold. To the pioneering settlers, it was a garden of Eden. And to the Rogue Indians, it was home. Two different peoples, each laying claim to the same territory. Dark Water is the keeper of her tribe's history, the Yiwiyawa. She has no cause to love the pale skins. Barr Conner is a loner, an outcast among his own people. He has no cause to love the Rogues. Yet these two must work together, fighting for survival, fighting treachery and bigotry, fighting hardship and loss, fighting to reconcile two ways of life. And fighting their growing love for each other.