In 1906, Ralph Moody is eight years old when his family moves from New Hampshire to a ranch on Fort Logan Morrison Road near Denver. His family seeks prosperity in the West and hopes to improve his father’s health, which had suffered from working in a woolen mill. The family, including Ralph’s siblings, Grace, Merrill, Phillip, and Hal, moves into a small ranch cottage. They begin turning it into their new home and acquire two horses, Bill and Nig.

For two weeks, the family fixes up the ranch and adjusts to their new life. An accident occurs when their horses fall into a gulch near a railway trestle. Ralph’s father, Charles, with the help of train workers, rescues the injured horses. Nig is badly hurt but survives.  Through the incident, Ralph learns important lessons from his father’s calm and optimistic approach to the situation.

Ralph and his family start meeting their neighbors at their new ranch. Their first visitor is Fred Aultland, a neighboring rancher, who comes to help after hearing about the accident with their horses. Fred is friendly; he shares advice on horse care and offers to lend them a horse until theirs recovers.