In Gone to Kansas, 1855, young Hiram Lockwood left a broken family and St. Louis to seek his fortunes on the frontier in Kansas Territory and on the Santa Fe Trail. In Kansas 1856, Hiram is shedding his greenhorn ways and gaining experience as a muleskinner and stage driver. Soon he finds himself in the midst of the turbulent times of "Bleeding Kansas, " where a man could be shot for not being "on the right side of the goose." Surrounded by rogues, miscreants, and border trash, Hiram must rely on himself and a few friends to thread his way.