The Carter family and others from Axton Landing (Book One of Adirondack Trilogy) enter a new phase as the railroad advances inexorably across the Adirondacks in the 1880s, further destroying forests as it transforms the way logging is done. Tragedy lurks as the Carters grapple with improving their own lives and the lives of those around them.

When New York Assemblyman Cyrus Carter votes for 'Forever Wild' legislation in 1885 to preserve State land, the lumber companies attempt blackmail to prevent his reelection. The plot almost derails his marriage. It takes an amendment to the New York State Constitution ten years later to protect the land. John, Mary Carter's oldest son, returns to the Adirondacks from Chicago in 1887, angry over the hanging of the men accused of the Haymarket bombing. In the spring of 1889, he is hired by JJ Schuyler, a wealthy New York banker to head the construction of a great camp on the one thousand acres...