The Valley Ranch War

Gray clouds hung low over the city after a brief morning shower and there was a chill in the air. Having just turned sixteen, Susan Farnsworth gathered her meager belongings then stepped out into a world that was unfamiliar to her. Standing in front of the orphanage, it frightened her to know that she could not simply turn around and go back inside, and for the first time she was all alone. With few options and little hope, she became a mail order bride with the help of a friend. After a year of writing back and forth to a man who lived in the Black Hills in the Dakota Territory, she agreed to marry him and become Mrs. Jacob McDonald. She then traveled west to join him. Shortly after their marriage, Jacob was murdered by a rancher who wanted the valley where their ranch was located. Having no place to go, Susan refused to leave the only place she could call home. There was little hope of keeping the valley ranch until a stranger showed up in front of her cabin. The Valley Ranch War is the story of a young woman, how she became a mail order bride and the trials she endured before true happiness came into her life.