A multi-generational novel of the Richardson family set in South Carolina during the late Colonial period, progressing through U.S. Independence, settlement to the west from the lowlands to the foothills and up to the bombardment of Ft. Sumter and the beginning of war in l861. Robert Richardson, a young Englishman seeking fortune in the colonies lands at Charles Towne in 1771. Gulled by a larcenous banker and his confidence man real estate broker conspirator, young Richardson finds himself penniless, then imprisoned by his effort to regain his stolen funds. Good fortune finds him escaped and free to pursue his destiny along the frontier. By chance he serves with distinction under Gen. Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, in the fight for Independence and is granted land along Eastanollee Creek in the Carolina foothills where his son Henry continues the family line. A tragic accident leads Henry to disown his son, Samuel, who is befriended by and made member of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina and Georgia.