Jonathan Banner discovers soldiers on an expedition to find the source of the Mississippi River, hoping that the source will be a natural border between the U.S. and Canada. Disappointed that it is not, a fight ensues over what should be the border, but Banner's party and the soldiers settle their differences after being forced to work together to escape quicksand. Banner negotiates the border to favor British interests, taking advantage of the soldiers' hunger. The Americans trick Banner into redrawing the line after dinner, provided that they give Banner's party...
Banner travels to the Columbia River Country to purchase Columbine House for the Hudson Bay Company. He arrives to find the house in dispute. The son of the family is angry because he thinks his mother has remarried too soon after his father's death. Banner discovers that the son and the housemaid are plotting murder, believing his father's fatal accident was perpetuated by his stepfather. When Banner investigates further, he discovers that a Native American chief is the true murderer, and that the biological father of the housemaid is the late patriarch of Columbine...
In 1819, Falcon and Banner are sent to Fort Gannon to stop whisky traders from disrupting the fur trade. The three whisky traders make the first move, attacking and injuring a preacher integrated into a Native American community. The preacher refuses to tell Banner who attacked him. The violent leader of the whisky traders attacks the preacher again. Members of the Cree tribe find the preacher near death, and bring him to Fort Gannon. Banner witnesses a telling conversation between the whisky traders, and confronts the group, leading to a chase and shoot-out. Banner...
An inspector for the Hudson Bay Company arrives, bringing his beautiful daughter Lady Anne. Banner immediately falls for her, but makes it clear that a relationship between a frontiersman and a lady would be inappropriate. Anne interjects herself in the midst of a trade between the HBC, Chief Lone Elk and his dangerous son Grey Hawk. Anne flirts with Grey Hawk openly, who has brought her flowers. This causes Lone Elk to assert he will only trade for Anne. After the failed trade, Grey Hawk kidnaps Anne and injures a HBC guard. Banner tricks the tribe into trading Anne...
Jonathan Banner and Pierre Falcon are sent to exhume the corpse of Moore (a mass murderer) and bring it back to their fort. They are accompanied by Kendricks, the man who killed and buried Moore. As they travel, they discover inconsistencies in Kendricks's story about Moore. Falcon is spooked by the corpse, and starts to hear voices. Later, Banner claims to see the ghost of Kendricks's dog (killed by and buried with Moore). Kendricks becomes agitated at this, and confesses that he is actually Moore, and Kendricks is the corpse they are transporting. Moore's gun ...
Jonathan Banner and Pierre Falcon are sent on a mission with the British military, led by Captain Malton, who immediately suspects Banner of mutiny. Malton sends the Native American guides away violently, believing them to be in league with Banner. Malton's grueling pace leads to a man to fall down of exhaustion, who later dies. Banner and Falcon are eventually tied up and left behind, but rescued by a soldier who sneaks back to free them. The three encounter the corpse of the exhausted soldier and a vicious battle between the British and the Native Americans. Only...
The Hudson Bay Company hosts a party after the trapping season, which turns into a drunken brawl over the affections of a Native American woman between frontiersmen Harris and Martin. Martin is kicked out, and Harris is later stabbed to death. Banner and Falcon attempt investigate the murder despite Martin's obvious motives. Martin is hauled back to stand trial, and his fate seems sealed until Banner returns with the Native American woman, who identifies the true killer.
The lovely Maggie MacGregor resists her arranged marriage to the old frontiersman Cluny, a match coordinated by her father. It is common knowledge that Maggie and young Colin Shaw are in love. On the eve of their wedding, Shaw makes a scene at the fort's tavern, and asserts that Cluny is already in a relationship with Oussita, a Native American woman, causing a scandal. The next day, Cluny is shot and paralyzed. While everybody suspects Shaw, Jonathan Banner and Pierre Falcon investigate the event and discover that it was a disgruntled Native American (Oussita). Cluny...
Jonathan Banner is called upon to ameliorate growing tensions between the Scottish Campbell and MacDonald clans, who have been feuding for hundreds of years. Despite this, a romance has bloomed between two young members of the opposing clans, and they secretly elope. The situation escalates when their fathers find out, and the opposing clans meet outside of the lovers' hideaway. Banner convinces the clansmen that they should stop fighting, since they are now kin, but the fathers insist on a knife fight. Both are injured, but their duel allows them to see past their...
Jonathan Banner and Pierre Falcon travel to Fort Caribou, home to Banner's friend and the current factor, Dr. Kimbrough. The camp is deserted, but they track Kimbrough and find him in negotiations with Pat Gallagher, and independent trader. The doctor announces that he wants to leave the Hudson Bay Company, and marry Gallagher's young sister, Mary. Under the pretext of joining their company, Banner investigates the situation further to find that the Gallaghers are actually lovers, and they are plotting to take Kimbrough's furs. The Gallaghers capture both men, but...
onathan Banner and Pierre Falcon are sent on a special assignment from Fort Gannon to meet with Standing Bear. When the arrive, they meet Standing Bear's "adopted" daughter, blonde-haired blue-eyed Lucy Hastings, who was orphaned at a young age and has grown up in the tribe, knowing nothing else. Standing Bear wants her to return to the Fort. Lucy does not take kindly to becoming a "white woman," despite all the attention she receives from Roger Phipps, the visiting assistant to the governor, who wants to reintroduce Lucy to society by bringing her to Montreal. Young...
Banner and Falcon head to the Warren family cabin; unknown to them, they are followed. Falcon is worried when he sees Sioux Indians running away from the Warrens' home, and insists that it is a sign of evil. When they arrive at the household, Buck Warren and his young son Jeremy are bedridden with fever. Banner chastises Mrs. Warren for telling the Sioux Indians about the fever, insisting that the tribe will react violently and try to burn down the cabin to prevent the disease from spreading. When the Indians attack, Banner figures out that the "fever" is actually...
Factor Hall at Fort King calls for Banner and Falcon, and upon their arrival they see a barricade of Indians surrounding the camp. White Buffalo, the son of the chief has been killed, and his murderer is imprisoned in Fort King awaiting trial. The prisoner turns out to be a young woman who believes she will not get a fair trial, since she is not respected by the men of the camp for her past work as a dance hall girl. During the trial, the prisoner tells the truth - she was romantically involved with White Buffalo, but rejected him after she realized he had many wives....