Post-Civil War Texas, 8-year-old son of the Texas governor is kidnapped by Apaches for ransom. Seven Texas rangers track them to Mexico, but they are ambushed, and only Ben Allison survives. He is nursed back to health by local padre, then they go after the Apaches. The Apaches in turn are ambushed by a gang of white scalp hunters who steal the boy. One of the surviving Apaches is a part-white warrior woman named Huera who is gravely injured but nursed back to health by Ben. They meet up with other surviving Apaches and recover the boy. They make their way to a hidden mesa on top of which is a paradise ruled by a Black deserter, R. E. L. Flicker, who was about to be was framed for murder by the Army. They steal a cannon and plan an attack on a cavalry troop. Ben Allison and the boy warn the troop so they are not massacred. Flicker and Huera escape back to the mesa.
If this sounds like a lot of action, it is. In fact there are too many subplots none of which are developed fully. The original story line about the kidnapped child is similar to the movie, The Missing, but the movie developed this story line only - no outlandish tangents about a hidden mesa, warrior woman, Black leader.