The tumultuous times of America's first oil strike in 1859-Pennsylvania are portrayed through this historical fiction. In 1861 when an accident triggers drastic changes for a family located at the heart of the oil excitement, eighteen-year-old Elias joins the North Western Pennsylvania rifle unit, the Bucktails that plunges into combat. He leaves his younger brother, Luke to cope with the challenges created by the dangers of rough-and-ready oil transportation and the erratic behavior of their troubled father. Among the on-coming rush of adventurers into the oil boom--driven by greed, excitement, fast fortunes, and boundless ambition--enters beautiful and mysterious Kate. Where did she come from and where did she go? Was she a spy, a wine merchant, a prostitute? Speculation about this fascinating woman continues today. Against the back-drop of the American Civil War and lesser-known skirmishes perpetrated by Confederates along the Great Lakes and Canadian frontier, the engrossing, historical personalities of Kate; bare-knuckled boxer Big Bad Ben Hogan; conspirator and actor John Wilkes Booth; oil pipeline inventor Samuel Van Syckel; unscrupulous fighter Stonehouse Jack and a cast of fictional characters mix it up in the nascent oil fields of the Oil Creek Valley and Pithole City where fortunes are won and lost overnight amid the fires, floods, mayhem and murder in the lust for liquid gold.