nate and isla live happily on the farm in alabama , nate junior joined the army and is fighting indians out west somewhere ; luke and catherine have long ago moved back to kentucky and operate the highly profitable good luck gold mine with william as the mines superintendent , he never got to live the good life in knoxville ; sam married kelly and they both live in rochester , minnesota where sam uses his share of the gold money helping doctor mayo run his clinic ; matthew , kim , and mark have moved to new york and established a manufacturing company providing artificial limbs to the civil war veterans , most without cost .