Annie Elfrida McLane lives in a little brown house of the South Dakota prairie, within sight of the Black Hills. Her father is a widower and prospects for gold there; Annie lives at home with her grandmother and the servants, Marthy Stubbs and Pete Pumpernickle. Annie has no neighbors, no other children to play with, and no school to attend; she is sometimes lonely and despondent. She is dependent for company on her black cat Silvertip, the farm animals around her, and creatures of the surrounding fields and meadows that she sometimes makes her pets. In the summer when she turns six years old, Annie rescues a wounded prairie dog from a trap. It is a strange little animal, and the other creatures of Annie's world are afraid of it. Annie makes a little house for the prairie dog, but the animal soon escapes back to the wild. Follow their adventures.