Betsy and Ike have no idea what the passage will entail, and it is not an easy one. Joining a wagon train, the two face danger and hardship as they climb mountains, cross the desert, and ford rivers on the long and arduous journey to California. Betsy and Ike must not only survive the passage itself, but must learn to eke out a living in the rough-and-tumble gold mining camp of Hangtown.
An epic poem in prose, Sweet Betsy from Pike follows the famous frontier ballad of the same name in tracing the story of a sweet girl who leaves Missouri and grows into a strong woman who learns to take charge of her own destiny.