When English Separatists flee to Holland, Dutch urban life corrupts their children and weakens their families. Convinced that God is leading them to the New World, these devout Pilgrims bravely cross the Atlantic. But after violent storms carry them far north of Hudson's River, they fight icy New England winds to build crude shelters. When half die of starvation and cold that winter, the weakened survivors have little hope of facing the specter of Indian attack.