With a secretive widow, a love-struck cowboy and a suspicious rancher standing in her way, Cassie Lockwood struggles to fulfill her father's dream of starting a horse ranch among the Black Hills of South Dakota.
When Cassie Lockwood's father dies and the manager of his Wild West show drives it into debt before taking off with the remaining money, she decides to look for the hidden valley where her father dreamed of settling.
During their first four years of marriage, Laura and Almanzo Wilder have a child and fight a losing battle in their attempts to succeed at farming on the South Dakota prairie.
Living away from home and teaching school is a bit frightening for fifteen-year-old Laura, since most of the students are taller than she is, but every week Almanzo Wilder arrives to take her to her family for the weekend.
Pa's homestead thrives, Laura gets her first job in town, blackbirds eat the corn and oats crops, Mary goes to college, and Laura gets into trouble at school, but becomes a certified school teacher.