Introducing Peter Cartwright Gilbert Hamilton is left alone on the frontier when his father is killed, and his mother is kidnapped by Sauk Indians during the War of 1812. The orphaned boy is taken to Kentucky to live with his wealthy uncle and aunt on their plantation, but Gilbert will never really be a part of his uncle's family. Haunted by memories of his mother and feelings of loneliness, Gil attends a camp meeting led by Peter Cartwright, a Methodist circuit-rider evangelist. The kind-hearted Cartwright allows the boy to move with the Cartwright family to Illinois, where Gil can begin the search for his mother. Settlers in the area have heard rumors of a blue-eyed squaw living among the Sauk. Could she be his mother? As Gil sets out on his quest, he begins to question whether his mother is alive. What if he is too late? Sauk warriors had kidnapped his mother long ago . . . is she still alive?