Outcasts of River Falls — Jacqueline Guest

After the death of her parents, well-bred young city girl Kathryn must travel across country to live with her Aunt Belle. Arriving at her destination in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Kathryn is horrified to learn her new home is a group of shacks called River Falls, a Métis community. Kathryn has never known about her true heritage, a mix of Native-American and Euro-Canadian. She is even more shocked to discover theirs is not even a permanent home. Barred from owning land, the Métis must find a way to live in the road allowances, or ditches -- the strips of government land between public highways and the private properties of recognized citizens. Excitement comes in the form of a mysterious stranger known as the Highwayman, a shadowy Robin Hood figure who rights wrongs against his people in his own way. When he is framed for a crime he did not commit, and Aunt Belle becomes involved, Kathryn must use all her resources to prove their innocence -- and challenge the deep-seated prejudices of an entire community.

Outcasts of River Falls is a next-generation sequel to the award-winning Belle of Batoche.