Despite a career that rivals any of the greatest mountain menof the frontier era, Joe Walker remains relativelyunknown. Born of humble beginnings in Tennessee, youngWalker's thirst for adventure leads him to join his cousin SamHouston in the violent Creek War of 1813, but the horror hewitnesses on the battlefield leaves him with a lifelongabhorrence of bloodshed. After the war, Walker's wanderlusttakes him to distant New Mexico, where he helps pioneer whatbecomes the famous Santa Fe Trail. When he is hired by themysterious Benjamin Bonneville to guide a trapping expeditioninto the Rocky Mountains, Walker leads the first wagon trainto ever cross the Continental Divide. His greatest explorationis a grueling trek across the Great Basin Desert seeking anoverland route to California, which leads to a frighteningconfrontation with the Paiute tribe and a battle he'll doanything to avoid.
