A wagon train takes the wrong cutoff and end up in Death Valley running short of food and water. Two of the stronger men leave to find supplies but those left behind start to give up hope of their return.
During the California gold rush, a wagon train led by Asa Bennett tries to take a short cut to the mining fields but gets lost in the desert waste east of the Sierra Mountains. With all their draft animals dead from lack of forage, two young men are selected to find a settlement and bring back food and water before the remainder of the party succumb to privation.—David Bassler