In 1926, beautiful Aileen Gallaher left California to join trapper Slim Williams in the wild Copper River Valley. Theirs was a perilous existence spent in isolated cabins, bucking heavy snows, uncertain river ice, and fierce cold. Yet Aileen fell in love with Slim and with the country, missing only female companionship. Enter Samme, her tenacious fifteen-year-old sister. Their lively and honest story details their emotional coming of age in a strange land that is still little known.