The prospect of 160 acres of free land enticed thousands of Norwegians to immigrate to America, with high hopes for a better, more prosperous life. Those who settled in North Dakota never expected they would need several times that amount of land, nor did they imagine the high costs involved in meeting the homestead requirements. This is a story of two families for whom the promise of America miscarried. As they reached a point of borrowing money to move their dream forward the depression hit, as did a drought on the prairie. But the family spirits never died, and the immigrants never wished to be elsewhere.