The American family Robinson

The narrative follows a settler family led by Mr. Duncan as they journey through the American West in search of a place to settle. Along their voyage the party faces natural hazards—buffalo hunts, storms, prairie fires, mirages, wolves, and whirlwinds—and occasional separation and rescue. Encounters with several Native American groups bring conflict, captivity, and later uneasy alliances that influence their progress and survival. They discover caves, ancient walls, engraved slabs and other relics suggesting an earlier advanced people, and they find traces of gold and mineral springs. After winters in makeshift quarters and travel across deserts and mountain ranges they reach foothills near the Sierra Nevada and reunite with companions before pressing onward.