Tennessee Matthews, a trader at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, deals in buffalo hides and waits for an escort for a wagon train headed to California with Jed Hawkins and his daughter Virginia. The widow Melindy Spriggs joins the train, eyeing Hawkins as her next husband, despite his drinking problem. Squaw O'Hara, a scout with a history of misguiding wagon trains, has taken up with a beautiful Indian girl named Lola and plans to do the same with the Hawkins train. As O'Hara and Matthews both fall for Virginia, she sends a rose to Matthews, angering O'Hara, who beats up Lola. Matthews intervenes, and Virginia mistakenly believes he's a two-timer. She tries to encourage O'Hara, who leads the settlers west, planning to attack them with his Indian friends. However, Matthews has other plans.
The Forty-Niners
As a wagon train leader deviates from the path, his true motives are scrutinized, leaving his group exposed to a potential attack by his supposed Native American allies, who may have their own sinister intentions.
