K.C. Granger is the sheriff of Sweetwater Springs. Since she was five, K.C. has dressed like a man and been treated as such. She's efficient at her job and has garnered the respect of the inhabitants of Sweetwater Springs. Red Charlie is a Blackfoot Indian and the blacksmith of Sweetwater Springs. He's silently battled the prejudice against him by doing his job in a competent manner and handling slurs with dignity. When reports of Indian thievery begin, K.C. enlists Red Charlie as her deputy, even traveling with him to the nearest reservation and taking needed supplies for the starving people. The two of them settle into a comfortable working relationship. K.C. doesn't know what to do with the womanly emotions of love she grows to feel for her deputy, and Red Charlie believes a relationship with an Indian will only bring trouble to the woman he admires. Then a marauding gang takes over the town, and danger threatens everything they love.