Western union

In 1861, young engineer Edward Creighton (based on a real person) leads an ambitious project: the construction of the first transcontinental telegraph line from Omaha to Salt Lake City. In the wilderness of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah, his expedition encounters buffalo, hostile Cheyenne and Sioux tribes, and most dangerous of all—an organized gang of robbers and saboteurs led by former Confederate officers who want to prevent the Union from gaining rapid communication.

Also joining the team is the mysterious cowboy Vance Shaw—a former outlaw haunted by his own past. Shaw falls in love with Creighton's sister Sue, but his old partner Jack Slade (now the leader of the gang) blackmails him into working for the enemy. As thousands of miles of wire are strung across the prairies and the Rocky Mountains, epic conflicts ensue: Indian attacks, buffalo stampedes, prairie fires, and a final showdown in which Vance must choose between love, loyalty, and redemption.