Johnny Firecloud, a Native American Vietnam War hero, is pulled over and forced out of his truck by Jesse, the town sheriff, and his deputy, J. B. When J. B. cannot find any vehicular violations, Jesse kicks out a taillight and writes Johnny up for that. As Johnny drives away, J. B. asks why they keep hassling Johnny, but Jesse does not answer. Meanwhile, Herb Colby, a prominent rancher, is gambling with his men, Wade and Ned, at the local bar. As Wade goes to play pool with Newt, another Colby man, he wakes elderly Chief White Eagle from a drunken stupor to rack the balls. White Eagle is too drunk to comply, and Wade forces him to do a war dance for a beer mug of whiskey. Johnny arrives to take his grandfather home, but Newt hits him with a cue stick, and orders him to rack the balls. Johnny smashes Newt in the face and a bar fight breaks out with Johnny taking on all of Colby’s men. Jesse and J. B. arrive, but Colby waves them back. Jesse finally intervenes when Ned is about to smash Johnny with a beer bottle. As Johnny takes White Eagle home, the chief reminisces about how Johnny got his name when White Eagle saw a fire cloud in the desert the day he was born. Johnny reminds him that it was a mushroom cloud from an atomic bomb that heralded a new age. Johnny declares he is a part of that new age, and therefore cannot live on the reservation. Johnny gets White Eagle home, only to be confronted by Nenya, a teacher on the reservation, who berates him for disrespecting his grandfather and thinking he is superior to his people. Johnny protests that he came home to be with his people, but Nenya retorts he returned because he is in love with Colby’s daughter, June. The next day, Johnny returns to the bar after losing his job and receives a telephone call from June offering him employment at her father’s ranch. As he drives to see her, Johnny remembers the night before he left for Vietnam. June asked him to marry her and he told her they had to wait until he returned. Arriving at Colby’s ranch, Johnny finds June intoxicated. She takes him to the stable and seduces him, but before it can go too far, Colby, Ned and Wade enter, tie Johnny to a pillar, and horsewhip him. Jesse and J.B. arrive and talk Colby out of beating Johnny to death and the young Indian is taken to jail where Jesse berates him for being stupid enough to walk into an ambush. When Johnny blames June, Jesse informs him that June discovered she was pregnant with Johnny’s child right after he left for Vietnam; however, she had a miscarriage. She wrote Johnny, but Colby intercepted her letters, and believing Johnny had abandoned her, she became an alcoholic. Johnny asks Jesse if he knows all this, why is the sheriff charging him with attempted rape? Jesse confesses he was dishonorably discharged from the army for being a homosexual, and Colby is blackmailing him with that knowledge. When Johnny threatens to tell Jesse’s secret, the sheriff snarls that in this town, the only thing lower than a homosexual is “an Indian.” Later, a drunken White Eagle comes to the jail and promises to talk to Colby, chief to chief, but Johnny sends him away. White Eagle goes home, dresses in the vestments of his office, including a war bonnet, and goes to the bar to talk to Colby. When White Eagle threatens to call a war council against the town, Colby orders Newt and his men to hang the old man. As Johnny watches from the jail, Colby and his men place a noose around White Eagle’s neck, tie the other end to a tree, and stand the old man on the back of a pickup truck. When White Eagle refuses to beg for mercy, Colby tells Newt to drive the pickup truck back and forth to scare him. J. B. comes out and demands that they stop, but Newt only takes orders from Colby. J. B. reaches into the cab for the truck’s keys and Newt’s foot slips off the brake, leaving White Eagle dangling in the air. Later, Johnny asks J. B. why no one was arrested, and is told that Colby insists the incident be reported as an accident. Johnny thanks him for trying to stop the hanging, but when he shakes J. B.’s hand, he slams it against the bars, knocks him unconscious, and escapes. That night, Jesse and J. B. go to the reservation school to ask Nenya if they have seen Johnny. As soon as they leave, Wade, Newt and the rest of Colby’s men show up and rape Nenya to make her talk. Meanwhile, Johnny places White Eagle’s body on a traditional burial scaffold, then goes to the school just as Colby’s men leave in a pickup trunk. He finds Nenya bleeding on the floor and as she dies, she tells Johnny she loves him. In the morning, Johnny finds Ned and scalps him. Colby orders Jesse and J. B. to hunt Johnny down and kill him. The following day, Johnny discovers Wade fixing a fence, ties him down with barbwire and places a burlap bag full of rattlesnakes on his head. More days pass and Johnny kills one of the rapists with a tomahawk and knocks the second unconscious with a board. When the second man revives, he discovers he is tied up with sticks of dynamite strapped to him. Johnny lights the fuse and tells the man he has two minutes to think about Nenya. Although Jesse wants to call in the state police to hunt Johnny, Colby refuses, frightened that outsiders may look askance at the murder of White Eagle. A few days later, Johnny finds Newt at home watching a western movie on television. Johnny takes him to the desert, and buries him up to his chin before gouging out his eyes. Next, he ambushes Colby in his barn, puts a noose around his neck, strings him up and whips him. An armed worker comes in and Johnny flees. As June tends to Colby’s wounds, she blames him for the loss of her baby, but Colby is happy the half-breed died. June throws a drink in his face and he backhands her. They are interrupted when Jesse and J.B. arrive. After J.B. takes June from the room, Colby threatens that unless Jesse kills Johnny or Johnny kills him, he will tell the town about Jesse’s “lace” discharge. As the policemen leave, June asks them for a ride out of town. Jesse leaves J.B. behind, and goes to track Johnny through the desert. When the sheriff finally corners him, Johnny refuses to surrender and convinces Jesse that the only way he can be free is to forgive himself and do what is right. Jesse gives Johnny provisions and allows him to leave. Before going, Johnny asks if it is all over and Jesse replies it is for Johnny, but it is only the beginning for him.