The Conquerors

In 1873, in New York City, Roger Standish is fired from his bank clerk job after being caught courting Caroline Ogden, the bank president's daughter. The scandal upends his life and pushes him toward an uncertain future with Caroline.

Caroline offers to marry Roger and suggests they travel west in search of opportunity. The couple resolves to seek new beginnings away from the financial turmoil of the city.

While traveling through Nebraska on a raft, the Slade gang robs them and Roger is shot. He is brought to the nearby town of Fort Allen for treatment.

In Fort Allen, the town's doctor, Dan L. Blake, performs a successful operation, washing his hands and instruments in alcohol to keep things clean. Caroline and Matilda run the hotel and welcome Roger as though he were family.

Months later, the Slade gang attacks Fort Allen again. Roger rallies the townspeople to defend the town, but his weakness prevents him from riding; the posse nevertheless hangs the entire gang.

With the Blakes' help, Standish Bank opens and becomes an instant success. On opening day, Caroline gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

Fort Allen prospers, and Caroline discovers that the railroad president is a friend of her father. She charms him by offering to prepare DelMonico's sweetbread recipe from New York.

Opening day of the railroad station arrives with fanfare, but disaster follows when the first train nears. The boy rides with Doc Blake in a buggy; the horses panic and the buggy is thrown onto the track, where the braking train kills the child and Doc Blake.

Frances grows into a beautiful young woman and marries Warren Lennox, one of the bank's employees. Their marriage ties the Lennox family to Standish Bank.

The Depression of the 1890s forces the Standish National Bank to close after a run on deposits. Lennox commits suicide just as his son and Caroline and Roger's grandchild, Roger Standish Lennox, is born.

The young Roger Standish Lennox grows up amid a changing nation and joins the Lafayette Escadrille. He becomes a decorated fighter pilot during World War I.

Caroline collapses and dies while watching Roger Standish Lennox's victory parade after the Armistice. Her death marks the end of an era for the Standish family.

The 1920s bring renewed growth as the Standish Bank thrives again under Lennox's management. The family reflects on cycles of boom and bust and the country’s rapid modernization.

The stock market crash of 1929 ends the era of easy prosperity. Lennox asks Standish to sign papers dissolving his $5 million trust fund so he can invest the money into the bank, and Standish signs with pride in America's resilience.