Carrie Tarynton is both loved and feared in Big Butte, Montana Territory, 1875. She saves the life of a prized horse and confronts age-old superstitions and practices, as well as two "modern" physicians from the East. She enlists her intuitive women friends and a Shoshoni Medicine Woman to help heal her husband, Mac Tarynton, and her marriage. Mac seeks Kent Berrigan to help defend his ranch against mining companies that spoil pristine streams, while rising conflicts lead up to the Nez Perce War.