It's the early 1900s.
Lew,
a young lawyer
seeking his fortune in Indian Territory, meets a
Creek Indian
who needs help getting out of
jail
. Sam, the Indian, gives up part of his
tribal land allotment
to pay Lew's fee. It's
just forty acres
of scrubby dirt, not even suitable for farming.
The aftermath of that trade
plays out in the lives of
two families
over
three generations
, spanning the
twentieth century
.