Rogerson tells of an Indian boy's ordeal as a captive, a recluse on the wild Pacific Coast, and later his part in the struggle between white and native races in the far Northwest.

A Puyallup Indian boy escapes Haida captors and lives alone on a remote Pacific coastline. So'qwa grows to manhood proving, day after day, that he is a better warrior than youth who mature in villages where elders guided their paths.