Mountain man Gabe Trumbull reports to Matt that he saw a young, ""fair,"" white woman squawing for an Indian buck on the prairie. The description matches local girl Mary Tabor, carried off a year earlier during an attack on a stagecoach. When Matt finds that Army Captain Benter, a real Indian hater, is put in charge of the trading party to get Mary back, he decides to go along. Once contact is made with the tribe Matt interviews Mary to find that she's not so anxious to return to her father. Spotted Wolf, the Indian who purchased Mary from the Cheyenne war party that attacked the stage, does not wish to trade her away, either. Captain Benter then ups the stakes by offering Chief Lone Eagle 20 rifles and ammunition for hunting if he'll turn over the girl. Mary then heads for home with Matt and the Cavalry detachment. Spotted Wolf, however, is not content to let the woman he loves go.