The Jump-Off Creek is the story of Lydia Sanderson, a widow who confronts and conquers the demands of homesteading alone in the mountains of Oregon during the 1890s. With unsentimental reserve, Molly Gloss delivers a portrait of the American West, alternating between entries from Lydia's journal and narrative chapters of shifting perspective from the cowboy and cook Tim Whiteaker, part Indian Blue Odell, and wolfers Danny Tsurnbow and Harley Osgood. The Jump-Off Creek gives readers an intimate look at the hardships of frontier life and a courageous woman determined to survive.