This historical novel for teen readers follows three generations of a California Native family as they experience brutal eras of California history: the Spanish Mission Era, the Mexican Rancho Period, the Gold Rush and the early years of statehood. In part one, readers meet Kilik and Tuhuy, Chumash cousins, as they go about their traditional Native lives and then face the dangerous challenges brought by Spanish colonialists. In part two, they grow and face more challenges as the region comes under the rule of the Mexican government. Part three takes the characters and their offspring into the even more dangerous eras of the Gold Rush and early years of California statehood.