1844. The Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land. When a heavy snowstorm hits in October, the party separates in three directions. Now young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, widowed Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa each risks losing those they loved....

"From the bestselling author of Prayers for Sale, an inspiring celebration of sisterhood on the perilous Overland Trail. "If you are an adventuresome young woman of high moral character and fine health, are you willing to travel to California in search of a good husband?" It's February, 1852, and all around Chicago, Maggie sees the postings soliciting "eligible women" to travel to the gold mines of Goosetown. A young seamstress with a small daughter...

Based on the life of Marie Dorion, the first mother to cross the Rocky Mountains and remain in the Northwest, A Name of Her Own is the fictionalized adventure account of a real woman’s fight to settle in a new landscape, survive in a nation at war, protect her sons and raise them well and, despite an abusive, alcoholic husband, keep her marriage together.
With two rambunctious young sons to raise, Marie Dorion refuses to be left behind...

Continuing the Tender Ties Historical Series, Every Fixed Star brings readers more of the dramatic, fictionalized account of Marie Dorion: the real-life woman who was the first mother to cross the Rocky Mountains and remain in the Northwest. In Book Two of the series, Marie learns the value of a tender heart, the faith of distant friends, and the act of holding life’s circumstances in open hands.
Following the family tragedy, the...

About the great migration west, Edna Ferber wrote, "I am not belittling the brave pioneer men, but the sunbonnet as well as the sombrero helped to settle this glorious land of ours." These westering foremothers take center stage in Walking West, Noelle Sickels's remarkable first novel of women and their families on a grueling wagon train journey across the United States. In the wet spring of 1852, a small band of Indiana farm families set off for...

Mercy Lynch is just a frustrated nurse who wants to see her father before he dies. But she'll have to survive both Union intrigue and Confederate opposition if she wants to make it off the Union-operated, Tacoma-bound "Dreadnought" alive.

Marjory is faced with some difficult decisions when her mother dies, and she must find a new destiny for herself and her family. With the help of Walter Wilkins, the young man assigned to drive their team, Marjory must find a courage equal to the task ahead of her and the strength to accept what may be the hardest thing of all-true love.

The sequel to The Holy Warrior. Sky Winslow leads a wagon train of brides from New York bound for Oregon.

"Spending five months eating trail dust wasn't Leo Spencer's first choice. Or his second. He's not one to run away, but some situations can't be fixed and his family -- two brothers and a sister -- needs to start over. Which is how he finds himself on a westbound wagon train. Evangeline has a secret, one that has sent her on a journey across the plains on the Oregon Trail. When her father is badly hurt and she needs help, Leo is there. A deal is struck...

"Stella is the oldest of three sisters and she's got a long history of being the one to protect and provide for her family. When a dangerous threat sent the Fairfax sisters on a wagon train journey west, Stella knew her best bet was to disguise herself as a man to keep herself and her sisters safe. Collin Mason has secrets of his own. And his family isn't short on drama either, not with his troublemaking twin and an older brother about to get hitched....