The East Coast of the United States - 1871. "Sea monsters" are sinking ships up and down the Atlantic seaboard. PRESIDENT ULYSSES S. GRANT, enraged that his navy is helpless in the face of this onslaught, is forced to ask for assistance from the notorious CAPTAIN NEMO, in Federal prison for war crimes and sch…

Margaret Reed, a wealthy and proud woman of Chicago unwillingly finds herself a member of the Donner party - a group of pioneers making their way to California by covered wagon in the summer of 1846. One by one the odds begin to stack against Margaret and her family as precious days slip away and an early winter storm …