Summary

It is 1880s - David Beaton and his bride come to Dakota

Dakota Territory

The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...

 to claim three hundred acres of grassland. But they have to struggle to survive. The young couple experience cyclone

Cyclone

In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...

s, drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

s, and blizzard

Blizzard

A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...

s that isolate them for days from the rest of the world.

Historical background

The author; Rose Wilder Lane grew up herself in the time and place of which she writes. Her parents homesteaded in Dakota. Many of the events described in the book, actually happened to either her parents (Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...

 and Almanzo Wilder

Almanzo Wilder

Almanzo James Wilder was the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and father of Rose Wilder Lane, both noted U.S. writers.- Early life :...

), or her grandparents (Caroline

Caroline Ingalls

Caroline Ingalls, born Caroline Lake Quiner was the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House books.-Biography:...

 and Charles Ingalls

Charles Ingalls

Charles Phillip Ingalls was the father of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known for her Little House on the Prairie series of books...

). The book is similar in a way to the Little House

Little House on the Prairie

Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...

series, only it is darker and more serious.