Black Powder is the story of Robert Young, a former captain in the Barbary Wars, and his river journey on America's first steamboat to rescue the woman he loves from a gang of river pirates led by his cutthroat nemesis and former commander. Along the way he encounters hostile Indians, swashbuckling battles, and several historical figures, all set against the backdrop of the catastrophic New Madrid earthquake of 1812 that reverses the flow of the Mississippi river.