Monson shares the stories of twelve women who heard the call to settle the west and came from all points of the globe to begin their journey. As a slave, Clara watched helpless as her husband and children were sold, only to be reunited with her youngest daughter six decades later. Charlotte hid her gender to escape a life of poverty and became the greatest stagecoach driver that ever lived. A Native American, Gertrude fought to give her people a voice and to educate leaders about the ways and importance of America's native people. All endured hardships, overcame obstacles, and changed the world.

Nellie Cashman : gold rush "boomer" -- Aunt Clara Brown : a woman in a thousand -- Abigail Scott Duniway : Oregon Trail suffragette -- Mari´a Amparo Ruiz de Burton : first Mexican-American female novelist -- Luzena Stanley Wilson : frontier entreprenuer -- Mother Jones : she could not be silenced -- Zitkala-Sa : Dakota Sioux rights activist and writer -- Mary Hallock Foote : mining town author and illustrator -- Martha Hughes Cannon : frontier doctor and first female state senator -- Donaldina Cameron : the most loved and feared woman in Chinatown -- Charley Parkhurst : most celebrated stagecoach driver in the West -- Makaopiopio : the spirit of Aloha.