The story takes place in 1856, where Meg and her parents live in St. Louis. Her mother takes ill, and her father worries that it might be a cholera plague, so he has Meg and her young brother taken out west to friends in Kansas. This forms one of the themes of the book. The other theme is slavery, where Meg and her brother become involved in helping a young Black woman hide out from slave hunters.
In effect, the cabin becomes a stop on the Underground Railroad. The historical section of the book goes into the slavery issue and how Kansas suffered through a lot of fighting between pro-slavers, who came into Kansas from other states, and abolitionists.
The book also has some material about Meg's life on the prairie.
Main Index
Yadult Index
