Minnesota, 1872. Tired from another fall corn harvest, forty-year-old A. J. Underwood wonders if there's an easier life. A. J. revels in the challenges of farm work, but his bleeding hands, the wear and tear of shucking corn, trigger doubts. The Civil War veteran and part-time legislator has recently met George B. Wright, a surveyor and land developer, in the halls of the state capitol. Wright has a civic mission—to convince A. J. to start a newspaper in Wright's new development, Fergus Falls, a fledgling frontier town in west-central Minnesota.

A risk-taker since his twenties, A. J.'s once-restless spirit has been tempered by the life he shares with his wife and their four children in Medina, Minnesota. Bountiful crops of corn, oats, and wheat are finally paying off after nearly a decade. But now, thanks to Wright, a new seed has been planted. With determination, A. J. embarks on a journey that reshapes not only his destiny but also the fate of a blossoming prairie town. Fueled by his encounter with Wright and armed once again with brimming aspirations, he envisions a beacon of truth amid the railroad towns of Minnesota—the historical Fergus Falls Daily Journal.