It is three two years since John came back from the war after losing an arm. Since then he has been teaching geology but now is suffering because nothing makes sense to him anymore. He has sorted out his finances with the bank and made sure his wife and child have enough money to live on while he goes west to find himself. 

This is the story of how Major John Wesley Powell and his great adventures in the Colorado Canyon give his life and ours purpose and productivity, after the creation of the monumental structure, Boulder Dam.