When Coop brings Kim Case to her home town of San Saba, he finds the people there in fear after recent Indian raids, and the nearby Army fort ready to attack. Army Major Starbuck's adopted son, Lance Starbuck, an old friend of Coop's, is an Indian himself whom Kim has long been in love with despite the strong opposition of her uncle, whose wife and children were killed by Indians. It is learned that the Sioux have teamed with the Crow and Kiowa to fight under Comanche Quanah Parker in retaliation for massacres led by notorious anti-Indian leader Santiago Quesada. Parker lays a trap for the Army and also attacks the wagon train stealing a wagon of rifles.
—rbecker28