Hank Ruger went to Alaska to take advantage of the Gold Rush era from Dayton, Ohio, in 1898 and came home seventeen years later with a wife to claim a five thousand dollar marriage bounty from his father.

Fast forward to 1972, when Elizabeth Ruger, Hank's niece, explains how her uncle returned to the Alaskan frontier after collecting the bounty and was never heard from again.

Elizabeth's young cousin, Jake, takes an interest in the mysterious story and challenges Elizabeth to investigate the scenario further. Elizabeth's not interested in opening up this can of worms and immediately tries to squash Jake's enthusiasm.

Little does Jake realize then that the can of worms is much bigger than anyone can imagine.