The year is 1905 when Otto Peltonen emigrates from Finland to Minnesota, where he and his father work long, dangerous hours in the iron ore mines. Otto's experiences strengthen his resolve to find the freedom his family sailed to America for.

		July 26, 1906 Climbing into the cage and being lowered back down into that mine was the hardest thing I've ever done...I kept thinking about all the times that Wally and I had passed the very place where those timbers had exploded. The question is, where and when will it happen next? "You're quitting," was the first thing that Mother said when I got home. I was ready to agree until I thought it over. It was easy to quit, but what would come next? Would Father quit, too? We couldn't move back to Finland. We couldn't afford a farm yet. No matter which way I looked at things, the answer was always the same — for now the Oliver Iron Mining Company owned me lock, stock and barrel.