James Goodenough, whose family had originally settled in Connecticut from England, brings his family to Ohio to carve out a new life in the Black Swamp in 1838. They work relentlessly to tame their patch of land, buying apple tree saplings from a local man known as Johnny Appleseed to cultivate the fifty apple trees required to stake their claim on their property. Swamp fever gradually picks off their children and they wrestle daily with survival. Fifteen years later their youngest son, Robert, has been running west trying to escape his memories of what happened, taking solace in a very different kind of tree--the redwoods and sequoias of California. Robert's past catches up with him, forcing him to confront his memories and to realize that he can't run forever.