The Last Frontier

Impoverished by the Civil War and eager to replenish his fortune in the West, Colonel Halliday, his wife, and his daughter, Beth, proceed toward Salina, Kansas by wagon train, at the persuasion of Tom Kirby, a government scout and Beth's fiancé. Although Bill Hickok, Tom's friend, and a company of cavalry are in charge, Pawnee Killer, chief of the Sioux, attacks the wagon train, and Halliday and his wife are killed. Bill rides to Salina for help and to deliver the news to Buffalo Bill Cody. Beth, now hostile to Kirby, joins the household of Lige Morris, a trader in Salina, and, at the suggestion of Bill, Kirby joins General Custer's scouting expedition. Lige tells Beth that Kirby is suspected of being in league with Pawnee Killer, but she learns from the post adjutant's daughter that he loves her. Beth seeks out Kirby just as the Sioux stampede a herd of buffalo through the town, and together they find refuge. Custer gives battle to the Indians, Pawnee Killer slays Lige, and the lovers are reconcile.