RE÷Union | Book One: Who's Eden?

The RE÷Union roadmap includes five novels as cannon, spanning the 1830s, 40s, 50s, Civil War, and Reconstruction. We start the series with a long lost friend of the Miller family, holed up in a dilapidated cabin, nestled high in the mountains of Colorado around 1885. Staving off the symptoms of a terminal sickness, thoughts become overwhelming and reality sets in that this story is going to die too, in that old cabin, which will probably rot into nothingness, the family's secrets and hidden possessions along with it. Rummaging through crates and boxes of old artwork, journals, photographs and publications, it becomes clear how important this story is. There indeed still is a legacy to leave behind. These heroes (and a few villains) should not be relegated to the stodgy, mundane existence that the general populace insists they knew. What follows is an attempt to piece together the adventure this family shared, across the continent of America and around the world, witnessing unimaginable social and technological change, tied within a network of stunningly courageous and creative family and friends.

Premise
I was forced against my will to summarize the premise of RE÷Union as follows (to be used as a pitch in an elevator or some other awkward social setting):

An adventurous writer-artist duo conspires to share hidden stories about explosive cultural change and westward expansion in the decades leading up to the American Civil War.