For a decade, the white settlers and the Apaches have been engaged in a bloody war with no peaceful end in sight. When a white scout, Tom Jeffords (James Stewart), has a dangerously close but enlightening encounter with the natives, he begins to see the humanity in these "enemies." Entering the Apache territory seeking peace, Jeffords forms a friendship with the Apache leader Cochise (Jeff Chandler), although there are people on both sides who resist extending the olive branch.