Cassie Lockwood's mother died when she was little, so Cassie traveled with her father's Wild West show and became an amazingly skillful trick rider. When her father died, Cassie stayed with the show. Now she's discovered that "Uncle" Jason, the show's manager, has driven the show into debt and absconded with what little was left. Devastated, Cassie decides to try to find the hidden valley where her father had dreamed of putting down roots.

Susie Doheny, an Irish Catholic, and Peder Holm, a Norwegian Lutheran, fall in love and marry in South Dakota in the 1890s. Soon their marriage is tested by drought, depression, and family bickering. Susie believes they are being tested by their fathers' God. Peder blames Susie for the timidity of her beliefs; Susie fears Peder's pride and skepticism. When political antagonism grows between the Norwegian and Irish immigrant communities, it threatens...