The year is 1879, and the place is the southern part of the state of Missouri, the plateau of the Ozark Mountains, a unique region of soft hill scenery. The area is sparsely populated by a tough breed of pioneers, most of whom struggle to scratch a livelihood out of the livestock they breed and the forage crops they raise. It's a cool morning in June, and the sun has just risen. Charles May, his wife Elvira, and their grown son John, an isolated frontier family of fiercely self-reliant people, are finishing breakfast...