Ben Butterfield is living out his days in a small backwater town. He spends much of his time dwelling on the past, pondering his glory days and his first grand adventure--a fantastic journey across heartland America to the town of Bright Star, Indiana, during the Civil War. It was 1862 when Ben set out to drive two incongruous camels to the farm home of a Yankee officer who had seized them as contraband of war. On the road he would meet many oddball characters, find startling romance, and be confronted with breathtaking hazards, all of which would change him forever.