At the end of the 1930s, Sonny Tompkins goes from happy but poor twelve year old to independent, hard working young man in the wake of abuse and injustice in his hometown of Mulberry Kansas.  Sent West  to live and learn the ways of his Uncle Buck and friend Billy May, the lessons taught Sonny all his life; honesty, hard work, fairness and honor, come into play every day in a quest for survival in the Great Depression. 

Sonny learns to hunt, chop wood, build cabins, gentle horses and fall in love all in one year.  Most importantly, he learns the value of a man's word, and treasure of a man's family.