In September 1857, a young girl named Nancy Huff watches as a violent attack unfolds at Mountain Meadows, Utah. Her mother, Katrina Huff, pulls her into the sagebrush to hide amidst chaos, gunfire, and screaming. As they crawl through the undergrowth, Nancy sees bodies and blood everywhere. They stop to peer through a thicket, and Nancy sees her aunt Louisa and sister Mary trying to flee. A man wielding a large rock runs toward them, and Nancy screams.

reflects on the hardships of the four-month journey from Arkansas to California. Her children have become “feral,” with six-year-old Nancy dragging a dead snake and her 17-year-old daughter, Mary, encouraging the behavior to keep her snake-fearing brothers away. 

The family is making the difficult trek primarily for Mary’s health, as her tuberculosis has improved in the dry climate. Katrina misses the civility of her old life but focuses on her family’s survival, repeating a personal mantra: “We’re safe. We’re together. We’re nearly there” (7).

As the wagon train approaches Corn Creek, Katrina’s nine-year-old son, William, frightens his sisters with tales of Mormons. Katrina scolds him, recalling their wagon train leader, Captain Alexander Fancher, had assured them the Mormons were friendly traders.