Just before warmhearted tomboy Tildy and her family left their home in Ohio for a tiny new settlement in the wilds of Wisconsin in the early half of the last century, Grandma said: "Lots of times, Tildy, things won't seem very cheerful—they'll seem pretty hard. Settlers in a new district have to learn to take things as they come and make the best of them. Lots of times you have to pretend you're not scared when your knees will just hardly hold you up. Plenty of times you have to figure fast to find any way to turn. It's your chore, Tildy, to keep folks out of the dumps—keep things kind of lively. You're good at that.” And Tildy promised to do her best, and did.

The journey by wagon and oxcart is full of adventure—fire, quicksand pits, and marauding Indians. Reaching the level valley where a log cabin home awaits them, the Gales plunge into all the duties of pioneer life courageously. They are intrigued by the friendly Indians and the lonely French girl, Twanet, who lives with her mad uncle across the river. When a hostile Indian tribe comes foraging for captives and food, and the mad Frenchman turns out to be in competition with Mr. Gale for the coveted millsite, exciting events happen thick and fast.

From the dust jacket