Western Territory/The Hills

The novel takes place in the Western territories of the United States during and just after the gold rush. The author never explicitly names any particular town, territory, or country, choosing to refer to the area as simply the "Western territory" (33) or "the hills" (22). The family moves around from place to place as Ba searches for gold as a prospector. In Part III, Ba recalls his early years in the hills, when he was raised by Native Americans and worked for other prospectors, ultimately resulting in him meeting Ma.

The central idea around the setting is that white settlers came to the Western territory seeking gold and ended up destroying the land and decimating the populations of people and animals that were living there. When Lucy and Sam travel through the hills trying to find a suitable place to bury Ba, the terrain is described...