The prologue shows the life of a trapper, living in the solitude of the forest. He digs a bear trap, which is covered with boughs and grass. An Indian girl, armed with a bow and arrow, creeps close to a wild turkey, which she brings down. As she runs forward to gather up her prey she falls into the trap. Evans, the trapper, finds her there and on lifting her from the pit, finds that she has sprained her ankle, and takes her to his cabin, and makes her as comfortable as possible. As the shades of evening fall and the pain subsides, the girl drops into a slumber, and loath to awaken her, Evans leaves her in possession of his cabin and, wrapped in a blanket, sleeps outside. In the morning, the girl having recovered sufficiently, he lifts her to his horse, and mounting behind her, proceeds to the Indian camp. On the way he is attacked by a trio of Indians, who fire at him from behind a tree, and the trapper brings down one of his assailants. The others rush back to the camp, and when Evans arrives he is roughly dealt with by the Indians, but is saved by the intervention of the girl, who is the daughter of the Sioux chief. Some time later a party of Cheyennes visit the Sioux, and the chief buys the girl from her father. Though she has not seen the white trapper since the day of her accident, the Indian girl’s heart has gone out to him, and the prospect of becoming the squaw of the Cheyenne chief is distasteful to her. It is an unwilling bride, indeed, whom the old Cheyenne brings to his tepee, and when he attempts to subject her, she turns upon him with a knife, and leaving his lifeless form dying in the tent, makes her escape. When she reaches her own village, however, she fears the wrath of her father, and suddenly the thought occurs to her to seek refuge again in the trapper’s cabin. Evans, who has fallen in love with the girl, assures her of his protection. The Cheyennes, wild with anger at the death of their chief, call upon the Sioux to deliver the girl to them, and are assured that she is not in camp. They trail her to the cabin, and, while Evans is away examining his traps, break down the barricaded door and set the house on fire. As Evans is returning he sees the Indians gallop off with their prisoner, and flying to the Sioux camp tells of what has occurred. The Sioux chief immediately calls out his braves, who start in pursuit of the Cheyennes. The girl is about to meet her death when the Sioux arrive, and a hand-to-hand conflict ensues, in the heat of which Evans rescues the girl and gallops away with her. As the sun is setting, standing on the crest of a hill, he points out to her a wagon train of emigrants, and hand-in-hand they go to his people, and safety.