Les Dix Audacieux

SYNOPSIS

By 1869, most of the USA had already been mapped and charted with the exception of the Colorado River region. Therefore, the U.S. government sends geologist and ex-Union Army Major John Wesley Powell to map it. Major Powell, who's missing a hand since the Civil War, needs assistants but trustworthy skilled men are hard to find after the war. The Major has to accept any volunteer he can find and he assembles a team of nine men. The team departs from Green River, Wyoming, in four rowboats and is made up of men of different ages, backgrounds, personalities and motivations for joining up. In one rowboat there are two former army officers who fought on opposing sides during the Civil War. In another rowboat, one man is a recovering alcoholic and the other is a boozing Englishman who constantly taunts the abstinent. Second-in-command is Major Powell's brother, Walter, whose abrasive personality constantly offends the team. The Major excuses his brother's frequent violent outbursts by ...