Born to a German immigrant mother and a Cherokee Indian father, Violet Corntassel had always been a child of two worlds. When an urgent letter arrives from her fiance in San Angelo, Violet jumps at the opportunity to start afresh on the Texas frontier. Seven hundred miles later in a town called Mustang Ridge, Violet runs into trouble-big trouble-by the name of Jasper Smith. Aided by a friendly cowboy named Billy Colton she escapes, but only by the skin of her teeth. Now she and Billy are wanted by the powerful Smith clan. Billy insists on accompanying her to San Angelo, despite her best efforts to dissuade him, and he succeeds in gaining her hard-won trust.