The World Changes

In 1856, Anna Nordholm and Orin build a cabin in the Dakota Territory to live a simple farm life. Orin plows the fields while Anna chops wood and their infant son Orin Jr. is part of the growing family. They glimpse a neighboring family moving west and begin to dream of founding Orinville.

Eleven years later, at a wedding, Orin speaks of his hope that Orin Jr. will marry his childhood friend Selma. He imagines Orinville as a town with hundreds of families, a dream that keeps their family tied to the land. The idea of a community forming in the West becomes an enduring promise.

In 1877, Orin Jr. discusses a plan to drive steers north from Texas with a gambler; his parents disapprove of the plan, preferring the security of Orinville. He secretly leaves a letter explaining his decision to head west. The family begins to see a widening gulf between their aspirations and his choices.

During the drive, Orin Jr. battles a river, storms, and bandits that scare the herd. He travels to Omaha, where James Clafflin convinces him to drive the cattle to Chicago. The journey marks a pivotal shift from western settlement to an influence-driven eastern market.

Orin Sr. and Anna wonder why their son cannot stay in Orinville, but they recognize that the same pull toward the West that brought them here drives his son toward Chicago. The family begins to diverge along different destinies as the cattle venture unfolds.

Orin asks Selma to run away with him, but she refuses, choosing to stay behind. The couple remains separated as Orin's cattle venture continues toward Chicago. Their bond survives, but the path forward is filled with difficult choices.

James Clafflin's daughter Ginny visits and meets Orin; they marry in 1879. The union links Orin to the Clafflin family and the expanding influence of the stockyards in their business world.

James dies in 1881, and Ginny is distraught that the funeral crowd is dominated by stockyard people. The event underscores how the family’s fortunes are tied to the volatile cattle industry. Ginny begins to bear the weight of public perception on their enterprise.

Cattlemen accuse Orin of ruthlessness, and the bank refuses to renew his loan. He pivots from expansion to innovation, pushing to develop meat-freezing equipment and imagining ice boxes on wheels. This strategic shift plants the seed for a modernized future.

In 1893, Orin and Ginny live on a palatial estate with their sons Richard and John. Orin is upset that Anna will not visit, and tensions rise as Ginny and Orin quarrel about the boys’ visits to the stockyards. Ginny suffers a breakdown and locks herself in their bedroom.

The Clintons visit from New York, and Orin suspects a takeover of his company. Ginny wants Richard to marry Jennifer Clinton, while Orin announces retirement to open an art gallery, causing stock to fall. Ginny’s health worsens as a run on the stock begins, and she collapses and dies.

In the 1920s, Orin contemplates his legacy as his granddaughter is set to marry English nobleman Philip Ivor. Jennifer Clinton notes the younger Orin resembles his grandfather, while Richard—now a Wall Street banker funded by Orin—faces pressure over Natalie’s engagement. The family’s ambitions and loyalties strain across generations.

In late 1929, Anna, now nearly ninety, plans a visit to New York. The stock market crashes in October, sending Richard and Paul toward prison and triggering a cascade of betrayals as Ogden steals money and Jennifer has an affair. Orin Jr. watches Richard’s body and dies after a flashback to Ginny, marking the end of an era as Orin III and Selma return home.

Orin III and the young Selma return to Orinville with Anna to start a new life in South Dakota. The saga closes with a fresh generation stepping away from the shadows of their predecessors, seeking a new beginning.