The chances that we'll find ourselves in a wilderness survival situation are remote, of course. But immigrants who came to this country to help settle the vast wilderness of the America of 1820 willingly put themselves in just such circumstances. They prepared themselves for dangerous and long treks across wild stretches of prairie, through dense forests, over mountains and through rivers. But, they too, sometimes met with perilous surprises. We meet such a pioneer in Catherine who comes to America with her family to escape war-torn Austria. Too soon after their arrival, disaster strikes and leaves Catherine to fend for herself in the wilderness of Missouri. Travel with Catherine and experience the loneliness, fear, anger, frustrations and tranquillity as she finds the strength to survive.