Pioneer rancher August Naab finds easterner Jack Hare in the desert and takes him home. There, Mescal, Naab's Spanish-Indian ward, cares for and falls in love with Jack though she is betrothed to Naab's wayward son, Snap. To avoid marrying Snap, Mescal flees to the desert and there is captured by desert pirate Mal Holderness, a ruthless man who is seeking to control the water rights of the surrounding area by buying or seizing the local ranches. Because Naab has refused to sell, Holderness begins a feud, taking Mescal prisoner and killing Snap, the prospective bridegroom, who has followed Mescal into the desert. As the leader of the law-abiding community, Naab, with a group of sympathetic Indians, burns down the neighboring town serving as a hideout for Holderness and his gang. Mescal is rescued and returned to Jack.