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

“You go ahead and take care of breakfast, and I’ll go see if I can find them,” Gregory said, beginning to follow what looked like a path through the grass.


Gregory went searching for the horses like a mother grizzly bear searches for her lost cubs. Frank made breakfast from scratch. Since it didn’t look like they would be going anywhere soon, he took the time to make cornbread and fry some salt pork, and then he made flapjacks in the grease. By the time all that was done, Gregory returned, already exhausted.


“You said we should have stayed up in shifts. I should have listened. It was a turkey shoot for them,” Frank said.


“If the mudsills hadn’t had horses, I would’ve been more leery,” Gregory said, poking a stick into the fire.


Chapter 17