It's the year 1846, and Sally Kettering is just twelve years old. Her parents have decided to sell their farm in rural Ohio and go west ... west to California. Sally and her six-year old brother Jon must leave everything they knew - friends, kinfolk and the little town where they had lived all their lives so far. Pa and Ma Kettering packed what they could take into a single covered wagon, and they set out to follow a trail through the wilderness west, along with a party of other families and adventurers. Unknown dangers lay around every bend of the trail ... wild animals, wilder Indians ... Indians who might be hostile or friendly, and no way to know for certain ... treacherous river crossings, trackless deserts, and jagged, dangerous mountain passes. There is always the danger of accidents, of sickness and attacks by hostile Indians and outlaws, .

And still, the Kettering family and their friends boldly set out ... following the trail that led west toward the sunset!