Barton Family Saga

In this Old West tale of deceit, revenge, and greed, full of scoundrels, rogues, and desperadoes on a lawless frontier, John Barton learns what it takes to become a man. Chasing his boyhood dream of staking his claim in the Mauvaises Terres, the Badlands of the Dakota Territory, John Barton comes face to face with the undeniable truth that the only winners in life are those willing to take their destiny into their own hands. Signing on to a cattle drive to the Dakota Territory, he is duped into taking part in a dangerous cattle-rustling foray deep into Mexico. Unable to turn back, he fights to survive in a life-or-death struggle during a grueling cattle drive, beset by violent storms, renegade Indians, and men seeking revenge. Finally staking his claim, he confronts the deeper meaning of his lifelong quest and of the mysterious spiritual roots of a land and its people that will forever lie somewhere beyond the horizon.

The Old West comes alive in this epic tale of lawless desperadoes and a man seeking redemption through the love of a good woman. Things become increasingly dangerous for Bill Barton as his cattle rustling buddies in Missouri, including Frank and Jesse James, turn to the ways of gun slinging outlaws. Living a double life as a southerner named Leroy Thompson, Bill works to guard his real identity when south of the Mason-Dixon Line. He knows the promise of his new life would come to a violent end if his Confederate partners ever found out he had been a Union spy during the war. While on a cattle rustling foray into Missouri, Bill's life becomes even more complicated when he accidentally runs into the love of his life, Cole Younger's sweetheart, Lucy Breeden. Lucy feels as deeply for Bill as he does for her, which puts the couple on a collision course with the bloodthirsty Cole Younger, who believes that if he can't have Lucy, no one will.

West River is a tale of the last pioneers on America's western frontier and the lessons they learned. Growing up on his father's Badlands homestead, Bill Barton chases his boyhood dream of one day staking his own homestead claim in the Black Hills. Bill learns that dreams, no matter how hard a man may struggle to make them come true, can turn to dust before his very eyes. Losing everything, Bill comes to accept that a man needs to take life as it comes and make of it what he can. Born into hard times, Bill's daughter Velda grows up learning how to make do and do without. Never backing down, Velda fights for her place in the world, while the Barton family struggles with the harsh realities of poverty amidst the daunting challenges of draught and depression. The sudden outbreak of world war transforms the Barton family and their fortunes. With a victorious America emerging as the leader of a new world order, the Barton family is left to ponder the deeper meaning of America's newfound prosperity, its outsized role in the world, and whether future generations will be willing to stay the course and pay the price.