Mark Twain, his wife Livy and daughter Clara, along with Major Pond and his wife take the Montana Central Railway from Great Falls, Montana to Butte, Montana. The video touches upon a number of historical events and locations along the way. The train passes Egbert Malcolm Clarke's ranch, whose death touched off one of the bloodiest massacres perpetrated by the US Army. The train travels through a Missouri River canyon that experienced a major dam failure. The video also touches on the silver mining financial bubble that burst just two years before Mark's visit.