Set in the 1880s, beautiful Bostonian Phillipa, pampered and rich debutante, is seduced by a sophisticated roue'.  Her father forces her to marry unaware Scotty MacTavish, a fur trader from the Oregon Territory who is smittn with her and will take her to the far West.  Scotty's young wife, so emotinally damaged by her reckless tryst is so cold towards Scotty that he allows her to reject him as a husband. His wife is unaccostomed to the rigors and hardships of several weeks of horseback riding, camping out in the elements in the crudest of conditions and never having experienced any tpe of work.  Upon reaching the Oregon Territory, Phillipa finds her home to be a two room log cabin rather than her parents' mansion.  Phillipa has a rival in a beautiful Idian maiden who desire Scotty as a husband.  Can Phillipa adapt to being a frontier wife's life? Can she learn to defend herself when alone?  Does she love Scotty enough to be his wife and helpmate for he will now take no less?.