Booklist Review

When picturing the route west on the Oregon Trail, the mind conjures images of families leading Conestoga wagon trains across the prairie. Certainly, smaller parties made the same trek. How did they survive the untamed wilderness? Roby vividly paints the struggle of two men against the elements. Leaving their old lives behind at the end of the Civil War, Caleb Stone and Dil Smith strike out for Oregon and soon rescue two Arapaho women, White Cloud and Little Rain once love blossoms, Stone and Smith realize they were the ones rescued. Continuing to the Pacific Northwest, the four encounter buffalo stampedes, tornadoes, and many deadly renegades (including White Cloud's former paramour), all while confronting cross-cultural miscommunications and racist anti-Native American sentiment. Adding an orphaned child with a colorful vocabulary and a domesticated wolf to the party, Stone remains mindful of the rapidly approaching winter. Though it's never in doubt they will reach their end destination, the friendships they make and the heartbreaking tragedies they suffer at their homestead forever color the memories of their summer together.--Sarah Steers Copyright 2010 Booklist