On his sixteenth birthday, Phillipe Chabot is told that his brother-in-law has hired him on to his band of Voyageurs. The paddle west from Montreal to Grande Portage is the lifeblood of the fur trade, and will either transform or destroy a young habitant trying to make his mark.

As they paddle away from the shores of Montreal, the lives of family and friends are left to fate, fire, love, and the hope that their Voyageurs will return with the fall.