When John is found unconscious at the Huron Mountain Club and brought back to Marquette, Michigan to recuperate, everyone assures him it's the year 1900, but somehow John's memories of automobiles, televisions, and other modern devices seem to suggest he doesn't belong in this time.

Soon several people are trying to help John regain his memory from his teenage friend Hugh Allen to Marquette's most prominent businessman, Peter White. But despite how many times John walks around Marquette, and no matter how many people he talks to, he can't seem to remember anything and no one recognizes him.

Then Hugh suggests John accompany him and his friend Howard Longyear on a canoe trip to the Huron Mountain Club. That way John can visit the place where he was found unconscious and see if it triggers his memory. Desperate for answers, John agrees to return there, but he is hardly prepared for what will happen next.