Where have You Gone, Billy Mayfair s a story of adventure and self-discovery set in a time of the Civil War and the Montana Vigilantes. Sixteen-year-old Billy Mayfair strikes out from home in Illiniois to find a fortune in gold in the mining camp of Bannack, located in what would become Montana Territory. He manages to save enough money by working in a Union Hospital in St. Louis caring for Civil War casualties to book passage on a steamer headed 2,000 miles north on the Missouri River to Fort Benton. While panning for gold in Bannack, Billy witnesses the most deadly outbreak of vigilante violence in US history. What makes the story unique is that Billy gives a voice to the victims as well as the victors in these actual events.