The Zachary family live quietly on a cattle ranch in post-Civil War Texas. A stranger (Joseph Wiseman) appears and disturbs their bucolic existence by spreading a malicious rumor that their adopted daughter, Rachel (Audrey Hepburn), is a Kiowa Native American. Soon, the Zachary brothers (Audie Murphy, Burt Lancaster) and their mother (Lillian Gish) must defend themselves from both racist whites and vengeful Kiowa.