Based on a true story, when a former riverboat gambler, John J. Cozad attempts to leave his dangerous past behind him by founding a model community in 1872 Nebraska, he must confront the violent threats from big ranchers and from dangerous derelicts from his past that follow him, in order to make his family's frontier dream a reality.

SYNOPSIS:

A former riverboat gambler facing death by consumption, John J. Cozad looks to start a new life with his wife Theresa and two young sons out West. They travel west to Nebraska for summer vacation to purchase 40,000 acres of hay land with plans to build a model community at the 100th Meridian. However, they face opposition from a ruthless Texas cattle baron name Print Olive who tries to run them off the land. The Cozads persevere with the help of their new friends, railroad section foremen Jerry Costin and his family. John brings in Theresa's family from Virginia to improve their odds and settle the land as the boys adapt at living in the West and spending his gambling winnings to help the town survive. They work to build up a town from scratch, start a hotel and eventually try to convince politicians to consider moving the nation's capital there. John and the family actively have to hide his shady past as a gambler, continuing to haunt him, threatening his grand plans for the future and his life.