This is the history of the early U.S. Coast Guard, with special focus on its former whalers-turned-cutters, the Bear and the Northland, and their voyages along the coast of Alaska, Hawaii and Greenland. Following the two vessels through history, chapters detail the diverse responsibilities that the "Coasties" had to face at the time, including capturing seal poachers and pirates, delivering babies, pulling natives' teeth and even engaging in combat with a German warship.