A Child Called Freedom — Maureen Peters

When Tansy Malone first looks into the eyes of Tom Wolf, she falls in love. But Wolf is a half-breed Native American returning to his father's tribe, and Tansy has an elderly husband and a delicate sister, with whom she is setting out for the New World. Tansy travels along the Sacramento Trail towards California, meeting a host of colorful characters, like Ma Perkins who never quite made it to the altar, and Yellow Dan, the friendly Native American woman.

Moving from the decks of a crowded immigrant ship to the endless plains which stretch towards Fort Laramie, so Tansy moves from the unthinking passions of a girl to full maturity, and finds, at last, her true destiny.