Lon McKay, a young cowhand in Wyoming in 1860, falls in love with the beautiful Laura Bowman. But their marriage plans are interrupted when Lon visits his mother in Indiana after the death of his father. He rides right into a new conscription law, and is drafted into the Union Army in the midst of the Civil War in 1863. After two years, including a stint in Andersonville Prison, Lon is discharged from the army as a cavalry lieutenant. He returns to Wyoming to find Laura has been mistakenly informed of his death and has married another man. Lon moves on with his life and becomes a scout, then a U. S. Marshal in the southwest. Years later he receives a letter from Laura, now a widow in serious trouble, asking for his help. In response to her plea, Lon returns to Oak River Falls .