Black North Dakotans were indeed something of a rarity in 1914, when young Era Bell Thompson and her family moved to a farm near the small community of Driscoll. In this lively autobiography, Thompson describes the experiences of her north Dakota girlhood: busting broncos with her brothers; making friends with Norwegian and German neighbours; selling used furniture in Mandan; working her way through college in Grand Forks; and facing prejudice without the support of her North Dakota background on her later adventures in St Paul and Chicago.