If Mister Skye hadn't wanted the new Henry repeating rifle so badly, he'd have thought twice about leading these pilgrims from Fort Laramie into the new Idaho territory. There was Alvah Riddle, crooked marriage broker, delivering three mail order brides. And there was Goldtooth Joyce and her entourage: sporting women looking to get rich quick; Seven-Storey Chang, a Mandarin Chinese; Blueberry Hill, runaway slave and piano player; and Cornelius Vanderbilt -- a gambling man with a fixed deck, hidden guns, and a piece of body armor. Even before they began, Mister Skye and his wives smelled trouble.