"Mary, you have got to talk George out of this madness," her sister pleaded.: You can't move to Colorado territory. It's hostile country with Indian attacks, bandits, gunfights, lawlessness, and the dry desert prairie with no trees. A cowboy could live there but not a woman with eight children. How will you grow food? You'd be giving up so much. I don't want to starve or get killed."A dream propelled George to build a new life in the West in the 1870s. Family members called it madness. His dream of creating a settlement where honest, hardworking people could thrive led him there. Was this dangerous rugged prairie of Colorado the answer?This historical fiction novel is based on real events in the life of George Washington Swink, his family, and the pioneers of Rocky Ford, Colorado during the 1870s. Great care has been taken to utilize available sources in writing about this time and place in history. Dialogue, narration, and fictionalized scenes have been added to help the historical characters come alive. Through many trials and hardships, these intrepid pioneers settled the desolate southeastern Colorado prairie.BJ Swink is the great-great-granddaughter of George W. Swink."A powerful story of perseverance and reaching out for one's dreams."Debra L. Butterfield, author of Claiming Her Inheritance"Step into the past...."J. Meyer, Friends of Historic Southeast Colorado