It's 1835. Chris Dahlberg goes to live with his grandfather the day that his mean-spirited uncle bars him from his homestead. After a long Minnesota winter, Chris is persuaded that the best chance he has of caring for his elderly grandfather is to harvest the timber on his grandfather's land and drive the logs down the spring floodwaters of the Mississippi to the markets in the new frontier town of St. Louis. People say it's impossible, especially for one boy alone. . .
"Chris's devotion to his grandfather is admirable, as is his single-minded dedication to the task of cutting the timber and delivering it to market. Meigs's descriptions of the wilderness and the bitter cold winter in the northern wilderness that will one day be a part of Minnesota are convincing. The breakup of the river early in spring and the sudden flood that is caused by a massive ice jam are depicted with realism and drama.... The details of the story and the local color of river life become progressively more vivid as Chris re-encounters his friend Stuart Hale, and the log drive continues downstream. At times Meigs's description of the river journey is reminiscent of Huck Finn's days on a raft." —from the foreword by William Durbin
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