People of the Troubled Water focuses on stories of people involved in early years of Missouri River history. It describes the adventures of explorers Lewis and Clark, trappers John Colter and Hugh Glass, artist George Catlin and scientist John James Audubon. The Hidatsa girl, Waheenee, finds her life forever changes by smallpox, and Mormon wife Jane Richards struggles to keep her faith through an incredible winter. The Missouri's raging waters change nearly everyone who challenge them. The Overland Journal described the book as "a joy to read."