The Journeyers

Fifteen-year old Andy Clay is forced to flee his home in Alabama. He soon joins up with Cloris Sampson and the two travel together as brother and sister to Memphis, then up the Mississippi River, where George Hansen joins them. The three of them travel across the western plains and mine for gold in California. Along the way they meet up with an old mountain man who tutors them on survival techniques in the west. A fight with river pirates, a buffalo hunt, an encounter with Indians, wandering lost in the Nevada desert, finding gold and a dangerous encounter with outlaws are just some of the adventures they encounter. There is an underlying tension in Andy between his desire to be reunited with his family and his excitement in the independence and adventure that are a result of his forced exile throughout the story.