Setting off on a journey to the west in the 1830s, the Prescott family run into a man named Linus who helps them fight off a pack of thieves. Linus then marries daughter Eve Prescott (Carroll Baker), and 30 years later goes off with their son to fight in the Civil War, with bloody results. Eve's sister Lily heads farther west and has adventures with a professional gambler, stretching all the way to 1880s San Francisco.—Jwelch5742