It was a long journey that no one had tried before. Jeff Kennett and his drovers have brought a herd of 2,000 longhorns from Texas to California through a northern route that has taken them two years to complete. The Gold Rush is on and there is a tremendous demand for beef and no way to get it. Kennett believes he can make a fortune by transporting the cattle by riverboat from Lassen Meadows down the Sacramento River for sale in San Francisco. He has been referred to Captain Bill Ballinger, headquartered in Sacramento, as the man who can best pilot the cattle downriver, transporting the herd in increments aboard The Sunset Trail.