The Civil War is over and the west offers unlimited opportunities for the adventurous. Yet the celebration is short-lived for Caleb Revers, a black veteran trying to plant roots under the scorching sun of the Arizona frontier. A kindly neighbor gives Revers a horse to help plow the land and support his wife and their precocious 12 year-old son, Billy. But town bigots resent a black man owning a horse and the stallion is stolen. So, Revers and his son embark on a dangerous mission to get it back. The murderous horse thief, an archrival from Rever's past, and a crazed sheriff are among many hostile obstacles which force young Billy to grow up fast.