Frank Greerson and Gregory Young have been discharged from the Army and are headed to their childhood homes. They both defied their parents in 1861 when they joined the Army. After battling southern rebels and preserving the Union of the United States of America, the two men set out to battle the Kansas Prairie and build a life together. Once they find their claim, they encounter common obstacles to life on the Kansas Prairie in 1866: Native Americans, tornadoes, wild animals, and weather.<br><br>When a prairie fire destroys their crops and takes their neighbor’s lives, Frank and Gregory are instructed to find their young son’s aunt. Faced with leaving a destroyed claim, the railroad coming through their land, and dwindling funds, Frank and Gregory must decide whether to leave the place they have worked hard to make their own or fulfill their friends' dying wishes.

A Place to Call Their Own

“Yes, and right before his wife got sick, he lost the farm. Due to her demands for a highfalutin lifestyle, he wasn’t able to make the mortgage payments. Your pa may have been a hard man to get along with, and things were tough some years, but he never mortgaged anything and we always got by just fine.”


“That’s too bad,” was all Gregory could answer.


“He lives at Millie Baldwin’s. After her husband died, she’s been taking in boarders to make ends meet. If he doesn’t eat here, he can eat there in the evening or at the restaurant.” She changed the subject abruptly. “Listen, I know you’ve told me in your letters you’ve made up your mind about heading west, and I don’t want to stop you. Your father left a small life insurance policy that I didn’t know about, and I’d like to give it to you in exchange for your half of the deed to the farm.”


“Pa left you an insurance policy?” Gregory asked.


Chapter 8