When the wagon train enters Chiracua territory, it is attacked. Marie Hargrave is killed by an arrow while her husband is severely wounded by one in the shoulder. The Chiracua leave at nightfall but a young man rides into camp under a white flag. Adams and his men know him as Swift Cloud, son of Chief Fire Cloud. Adams had taken him to San Francisco four years earlier to see a doctor about a profound limp. The Chief wanted his son healed so he can be Chief but when he did not return, Chief Fire Cloud started attacking wagon trains believing his son is dead. Swift Cloud tells Adams he has learned the white man's ways and become a doctor. The people on the train refuse to let him treat them so he leaves for the Chiracua camp to see his dad. His dad is on his death bed from an infected bullet wound in the leg. He allows Swift Cloud to operate but Geema the Medicine man refuses to let him allowing Chief Fire Cloud to die. When Swift Cloud claims the title of Chief, his friend Straight Arrow challenges him and wins. Swift Cloud refuses to leave the tribe staying as one of the old women. When Hargraves condition worsens due to the arrow head still in his shoulder, Adams and Wooster take him to the only doctor, Swift Cloud. Geema predicts Hargrave will die but Swift Cloud operates on Hargrave with Straight Arrow's permission.
—Anonymous