In 1967 Haight-Ashbury dwelling scientist, philosopher, and rock lyricist Burdette Bardwash is presumed to have drowned in the Missouri River during a prairie schooner expedition retracing the Oregon Trail. Bardwash has not been heard from in the more than 40 years since, but not everyone believes he is dead. His body was never recovered and there is evidence that he stage his disappearance. His brother, Miles, wants closure, and hires San Francisco private detective Charles Westbury to investigate. It comes to light that Bardwash was once in the employ of the CIA and was a key figure in an MKUltra project codenamed Tempus Fugit. Is Bardwash alive? If so, why did he stage his death? And why are his fellow prairie schooner expeditionists looking as if they have not aged a day since 1967?