In 1856, Logan Stewart, the proprietor of an Oregon mule train, is nearly robbed of a gold shipment while he sleeps in his Portland hotel room. He tells Lucy Overmine, the fiancée of his best friend, George Camrose, that he thinks the bandit was Honey Bragg, whom he believes had earlier killed two miners, though their murders were blamed on the local Indians. While traveling to the mining town of Jacksonville, Logan and Lucy stop at the ranch of Ben Dance and his family. Logan gives a locket to Caroline Marsh, an English immigrant staying with the Dances, though Lucy doubts his serious intentions. Upon his arrival in Jacksonville, Logan is forced to break up a bar fight between his young friend, Vane Blazier, and Bragg. Meanwhile, Lucy chastises George for his gambling, unaware that the problem is so severe that the banker is embezzling funds to cover his losses. Though he is secretly in love with Lucy, Logan proposes to Caroline, and she accepts, much to the chagrin of the jealous Vane. Later, Logan is forced to fight Bragg, and though he defeats the murderous outlaw, he refuses to kill him. After learning of George's excessive gambling, Logan agrees to pay his debts if the banker promises to give up poker. Though he takes the money, George continues his gambling, and even as his debt to professional gambler Jack Lestrade mounts, he tries to romance Lestrade's wife Marta. After killing MacIvar, a miner from whom he has been embezzling, George announces his intention to leave Jacksonville and take Lucy along as his wife. While George wants a quick wedding, Lucy's family insists on an elaborate affair, so she prepares to go to San Francisco with Logan to pick out a wedding dress. Before they leave, Logan orders Lestrade to return his ill-gotten winnings to George, but the gambler instead hires Bragg to kill the entrepreneur. Bragg fails in his attempt to murder Logan, but he does kill Logan and Lucy's horses, leaving them stranded in the woods. The two manage to make it back to Jacksonville, only to learn that George has been arrested for the murder of MacIvar. George is found guilty by a kangaroo court, and knowing that his old friend will be lynched that night, Logan breaks the banker out of jail. While George hides in the woods, the townspeople are informed of an Indian uprising, which has been brought on by Bragg's rape and murder of an Indian woman. Learning that the Indians are bound for the Dance ranch, Logan and the miners head there, and discover that both Ben and his son Asa have been killed during an Indian attack. Caroline is found wandering dazed through the woods, and she later breaks her engagement to Logan, telling him that she would rather live on a farm with a man like Vane than in the city with him. Upon his return to Jacksonville, Logan discovers that his general store has been destroyed by the Indians and George has been captured and killed by the townspeople. Despite the setbacks, the resilient Logan heads for San Francisco to arrange for a line of credit to revive his business, with Lucy at his side.