At the Opening we are introduced to a group of contemporary high school kids on a field trip. They are at the beach, and are supposed to discuss immigration of the last century. Mostly they discuss their desire to live somewhere less isolated, more exciting. They know why their ancestors came to this harsh isolated region. They wondered why they stayed.
Behind these young people the immigrant families arrive. The students drop their backpacks and their sunglasses and walk into the lives of their ancestors, and the adventure begins.
We come to know Lisa from Italy, arriving already engaged to a man she's never met and Joe and Tom Trenarry, who risk everything for a job in the mines and a chance at a better Life.
There's the schooner, The Resolution and her crew members who love the lake that daily threatens their lives. A young Chinese woman and her daughter seek a home, as they follow the trail of the husband who fled China. A German family tries farming in the wasted forestland, as their son seeks his own path. A Swedish father seeks a safe home for his family. A young Native American faces the challenge of a changing world. Families and individuals, all seeking a future in a land that gives nothing away for free