In 1850, Swedish immigrant Karl Oscar Nilsson, his wife Kristina, Karl’s eighteen-year-old brother Robert and the couple’s three children arrive in the United States to settle a fertile valley homestead in the Minnesota Territory. Happy to have left the religious persecution and stratified society of their parish in Småland, Sweden, Karl embraces his new home, but Kristina, who had no say in their move, is miserable and misses Sweden terribly. Moving into a shanty by Lake Ki-Chi-Saga, the family fells trees to clear the land for fields and build a home, while hunting game to eat. Meanwhile, displaced Sioux Indians, who once owned the territory, roam the countryside begging for food. As the weather turns cold, Kristina asks for a milking cow to feed the children, but Karl reluctantly states that he has spent all their money on the land purchase. At the onset of winter, the family rejoices in their newly built home, Kristina’s pregnancy and a milk cow lent by a neighbor. Now settled, the couple entertains other Swedish immigrants who praise America, but Kristina cannot contain her sorrow over leaving Sweden. Adding to her anxiety, one day a group of Sioux men enter the Nilsson home to investigate their rifle, pointing it at Kristina, who is there alone with her children. Months later, Kristina delivers a healthy baby boy with the help of her close friend from Sweden, reformed prostitute Ulrika. Meanwhile tension grows between Karl and Robert. One day, Robert races to Karl’s side, insisting that he has killed an Indian after being shot at by arrows in the woods. Karl angrily shows Robert the frozen body of a Sioux man strapped to a tree that provoked his fear, explains that the Indians hang their dead until the ground thaws in the spring, then berates Robert for fabricating stories. When the winter ice thaws, Robert, feeling trapped by Karl’s mistrust, leaves with his gullible young friend Arvid to dig for gold in California, despite Karl’s protests. Without profits from a summer crop, Karl and Kristina have little money to buy supplies. At the store in nearby Stillwater, Karl trades maple syrup for flour and must leave a letter from his parents in Sweden behind, unable to pay the fifteen cents postage due. Meanwhile, Kristina visits with Ulrika, who is marrying Baptist pastor Jackson, and tries on her store-bought hat, giggling at its audaciousness. Though she has brief moments of happiness with her friend and her children, Kristina still secretly prays to return home. The Nilssons, eager for company after a year alone on their homestead, are excited when Swedish immigrant Petrus Olausson and his family also settle on Lake Ki-Chi-Saga. While Karl is decidedly more interested in seeing a school built for his children, Petrus is adamant about building a house of worship for the surrounding community. Months later, Pastor Torner arrives on the Nilsson’s doorstep one rainy night and decides to hold his first service at their home soon after. As the congregation prepares to build a church, Petrus and his wife Judit insist that Kristina cease communication with “wicked” Ulrika because of her conversion to the Baptist faith, but both Karl and Kristina refuse, reminding the couple that they moved to America for its tolerance. That summer, the Nilssons’ harvest is fruitful with the help of an ox; however, that winter, Karl must kill the beast to protect his freezing young son in its belly during a long walk home at the onset of a storm. In the spring of 1855, Robert returns home claiming that Arvid remained behind to seek his fortune. He then produces thousands of dollars in paper money claiming they are gold profit, but Karl is suspicious of Robert’s tales. Quietly suffering from an unknown ailment, Robert has lucid nightmares about his travels, including peeling potatoes in the belly of a steamship while the owners beat slaves. He also remembers crossing the desert on pack mules, then losing his way with Arvid. After collapsing in the sand from dehydration and sunburn blisters, the young men stumble upon a muddy watering hole. The illiterate Arvid eagerly drinks, refusing to listen to Robert, who tries to stop him after reading a poison warning posted nearby. After Arvid dies in agony that night, Robert buries him and takes his pocket watch, which Kristina finds in his bed along with bloodied sheets from his illness. When Karl confronts him about the watch soon after, Robert confides that he blames himself for Arvid’s death, because he insisted that they continue west when Arvid wanted to return home. Dreaming again, Robert remembers being saved by his guide, who dies soon after, leaving him a large sack of coins, which Robert exchanged for paper money. Back at the Nilsson home, when Karl discovers the money is counterfeit, he slaps Robert. Weak from disease and family shame, Robert walks into the woods to die beside a stream. Years later, at the start of the Civil War, Karl attempts to enlist to fight for freedom for the slaves, but is rejected because of a leg infirmity. Although Karl is depressed by the incident, Kristina, a pacifist, rejoices that her husband will not be forced to kill others. That winter, Kristina suffers a life-threatening miscarriage and is told that another pregnancy could kill her. Depressed that she is “no longer any use” to her husband, she begs him to sleep with her anyway, saying that she puts her trust in God, not doctors. Meanwhile, conditions for the Sioux worsen as they hold out for payment for their lands from the American government. After a mid-August payment does not arrive as promised, a small group of Sioux men kill several men and a pregnant woman at the Danjelsson’s settlement. The Swedish immigrants then barricade themselves in town with guns and ammunition to prepare for a Sioux uprising, but Karl remains home to care for Kristina, who is bedridden after another miscarriage. Leaving her for just a moment, Karl goes to pick the first apple to ripen on the tree they brought from Småland. Recognizing the scent from Sweden, Kristina cries, “I’m home” and dies. Meanwhile, a court-martial following the Sioux War with the Americans sentences 303 Sioux warriors to be hanged, but President Abraham Lincoln rescinds the decree for all but 38 men, who are then publicly hanged on 26 December 1862. Years pass and the now-elderly and sad Karl writes to his sister that he still mourns Kristina’s death and does not forgive God. Soon after, one of Karl’s immigrant neighbors writes to the sister, explaining that because Karl’s children, now Americans for several generations, no longer speak their native tongue, Karl asked him to write her at the time of Karl’s death.