When an injury prevents his father from going into northern Canada with fur traders, thirteen-year-old Pierre decides to take his father's place as a voyageur.

In 1905 fifteen-year-old Otto describes in his journal how he travels from Finland to America, joining his father in a dreary iron mining community in Minnesota and becoming involved in a union fight for better working conditions.

In 1900, as a family of Finnish immigrants begins farming on the edge of a Minnesota lake, Matti works as a store clerk, teaches English, and works on the homestead, striving to get out of his older brother's shadow and earn their father's respect.

Examines the life and golf career of the young man who racked up numerous tournament victories and became celebrated in the media.