The year is 1860. Young Rose travels with her family to Kansas Territory. Together with her Mama, Papa and Grandma, they work to build a homestead on the banks of the beautiful Cache La Poudre River. Forlorn at having left her best friend, Rose is blessed to forge a friendship with Natanah, a local Arapahoe girl - a friendship that grows into more than both could have imagined - one that would last a lifetime. The river that is a source of sustenance in their lives becomes the source of Rose's greatest loss. Facing a future without her parents she presses on through the grief to realize her dream of gentling horses. Her gentleness and intuitiveness with horses brings her renown in the area. Rose learns to navigate through the years of change and grief, while learning how to put down roots and thrive in this new place. Just as the river flows and turns, so do the years of Rose's life. Through the seasons of love and loss, Rose grows into a woman of strength and dignity - holding both grief and gratitude in her heart.