Describes how pioneers set out across the United States and Canada in the nineteenth century looking for a better life in the West--the routes they took, the covered wagons they used, what they ate, the dangers they faced, and more.

In 1851 twelve-year-old Sarah is a free Black, happy living with her parents, grandparents, and brother on their own farm in Iowa; but her father has been bitten by the gold bug and wants to take the trail west to California, and after some argument it is decided that the the grandparents will stay on the farm, but the rest of the family will go; the journey will be difficult and dangerous, but if they survive extreme weather, difficult terrain, illness,...