After the Du Bois family moves to the Canadian Northwest, young Horace Du Bois falls in with Black Fagan, the crooked manager of the Athabasca Fur Co. His brother Jean, meanwhile, settles in nearby Pine Prairie as a free trader in defiance of the Athabasca company, which controls the town. When Jean's friend Semcoe Charlie kills Fagan, Santel, Fagan's assistant, asks Horace to take charge of Pine Prairie, so Horace and his wife Eleanor move there under assumed identities. Santel is killed when Jean leads a successful attack against the company, and Horace is filled with remorse. Although Eleanor has fallen in love with Jean, she decides to remain with her husband, who needs her more.—AFI