A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a house, meet neighboring Indians, sink a well, and fight a prairie fire. A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a house, meet neighboring Indians, build a well, and fight a prairie fire.

Laura and her family move to Minnesota where they live in a dugout until a new house is built and face misfortunes caused by flood, blizzard, and grasshoppers.