Drawn by mules, a wagon lurched into a settlement on the banks of the river. Rain pounded on the wagon's patched cover, and mud clogged the wheel spokes. The driver was Sandy Crawford, a California born immigrant whose wife sat beside him, a spare piece of canvas drawn about her shoulders. Peering ahead, she saw the river, and finally the bridge. The wagon rolled up the ramp of the bridge, the mules' testing the flooring with cautious hooves, before coming to a halt before a watchtower. At the same time, two men emerged to collect the toll for crossing the bridge - five dollars! What Sandy didn't know was that the wagon train they were with had already paid for him and his wife's wagon to cross. The two of them didn't have five cents to pay, and were forced to try crossing at the ford further downriver...