Ride the River

The protagonist is Echo Sackett, a sixteen-year-old woman from the Tennessee mountains. She travels to Philadelphia to collect an inheritance, making this 1983 Louis L'Amour novel an unusual female-led entry in the Sackett series. [Louis L'Amour's official synopsis](https://www.louislamour.com/sackett/ridetheriver.htm) identifies Echo and the journey.

Echo must protect her family fortune from James White, a city lawyer who plans to cheat her out of the money. When deception fails, the threat becomes more dangerous, forcing Echo to rely on the skills she learned in Tennessee. [The publisher's plot description](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/96681/ride-the-river-the-sacketts-by-louis-lamour/) names White and the inheritance conflict.

Yes, it is a Sackett novel by Louis L'Amour, published in 1983. It stands out because Echo Sackett, rather than a male frontier hero, carries the story.

Echo has never been far from her Tennessee home before the trip, so Philadelphia becomes both a physical and social test. The journey puts a young Appalachian woman against a city lawyer and the unfamiliar rules of an inheritance fight.