"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the High Sierras. But Smoke Jensen and his children, Louis and Denise, won't let a little snow stop them from heading to Reno for the holidays. There are two ways for them to get there: the long way, going around the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or the short way, going right through them. Smoke decides to take a gamble. They'll follow the trail that, decades earlier, brought the legendary Donner Party to...

A collection of stories which describe the experiences of a pioneer girl and her family as they celebrate various Christmases in the Big Woods in Wisconsin, on the prairie in Indian Territory, and on the banks of Plum Creek.

Caught in a snowstorm on his way through Dakota territory, Jeremiah Jensen can't ignore a dog demanding he follow to a meager camp where a man lay dying. With his last breath he pleads with the cowboy to take care of his family. After Jeremiah cares for the body, the dog leads him to a sod house where a little boy and a woman with a bundled baby welcome him. Over his first hot meal since Fargo, he breaks the news about her husband and says when the...

"Smoke Jensen looks forward to spending a quiet holiday with the family. But an unexpected arrival from south of the border has him reaching for his guns, defending his land and risking everything he loves. Sally Jensen strikes up a friendship with a lovely Mexican woman, who turns out to be married to the mysterious stranger plotting to steal her ranch. Ace and Chance prepare to fight a gang of outlaws trying to kill the man who raised them, but...