Selena and Belle Baldwin, sisters, travel from Winter Quarters to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in the company of Lon Holiday, captain of fifty, and Josiah Blodgett, captain of ten. Selena, whose fiance died at Winter Quarters, cannot overcome the great sorrow and bitterness of her loss. When the wagon train arrives in the Valley, Belle and Josiah are married, and later they leave with a group of saints to settle in San Bernardino, California. Selena and Lon, who has loved her since their first meeting, also join the company but are separated for most of the journey affter the division of the company. Alfred Quale, who has traveled all the way to San Bernardino with the Blodgetts and Selena, continues his ardent courtship after the company arrives at San Bernardino. Much difficulty is encountered in securing title to the land, and Lon volunteers to journey to the gold camps to secure money for purchase of the land. Alfred proposes to Selena, but when his involvement in a money-seeking plot is revealed, she marries Lon instead. Lon is then assigned a potentially dangerous mission Selena wishes he wouldn't accept.
-Publisher's synopsis
