Texas 1848. Missy Jo Spencer has just graduated from Austin's Crockett College with her teaching certificate. All her life, decisions have been made for her. How to dress, how to act, what school to attend, and even whom she is to marry have all been prearranged. An escape from her inevitable destiny comes in the form of a request from the governor of the state of Texas himself. The governor is asking for volunteer teachers to help settle a rather desolate area of the state. In exchange for their own district and 640 acres of land, the volunteer teachers are required to recruit settlers to help tame that "Great Wasteland." The O'Connelly family of Ireland, although better off than most of the population, still face the horrors of the potato famine ravaging their land. In order to escape the possibility of starvation, they board a ship for the New World. Due to sickness onboard, the ship is denied docking in New York and is forced to offload the sick passengers in the Bahamas, a crown colony. It then makes its way to the second port of call, Galveston, Texas. There, Missy Jo Spencer is able to convince twelve families from the ship, including the O'Connellys, plus the Reverend and Mrs. Owens, and a Scottish couple, the McGreggors, to join her in the adventure. Little does she know that the governor has decided to send two teachers to the same district, her and the man she is trying to avoid, the man her parents have arranged for her to marry, Mr. Billy Don Pratt.