Fifteen-year-old George Gillies lives in the Washington Territory in the late 1800s, where white settlers have an uneasy relationship with the indigenous people living there. When a local man is found murdered, suspicion falls on Louie Sam, a young member of the Stó:lō tribe. George and his best friend, Pete, follow a lynch mob north into Canada, where the terrified boy is seized and hung.

Racked with doubts, George begins to ask questions. Was Louie Sam really a murderer? As George uncovers the truth, tensions in the town rise, and he must face his own part in the tragedy.

Inspired by a true story.