Young Sam Morgan, serving his apprenticeship as a mountain man in the Rocky Mountains in the early 1820s, searches for Meadowlark, the Crow Indian girl he loves. At the Wind River village of Meadowlark's people, Sam finds her being courted by a Crow warrior named Red Roan. Sam realizes he must become more Indian than white man to win Meadowlark.

Taken prisoner by the dreaded Sioux, the Crows' mortal enemy, Sam escapes but loses everything except his faithful companion, a coyote pup. Sam must rebuild his life and his esteem among his Crow friends

Beauty for Ashes is an unforgettable love story and an action-filled adventure. There are fights against Pawnees, Sioux, and Blackfeet; a knife duel and horse race at the trappers' rendezvous; and a harrowing escape from captivity, torture and certain death by the Indian captors.

This is the memorable story of a boy becoming a man in the cruel, beautiful, unexplored wilderness of the Old West.