An Indian scout courts a beautiful woman on the road to Californias wine country.

In 1847, a group of fifty-two French Basques travel to America to escape the unrest and famine of post-Napoleonic France and set out for the West. One of their seven wagons carries the Pyrenees grapevines they hope to plant in the fertile soil of California. In Independence, Missouri, they hire a hard-drinking, womanizing scout named Lon Bennett, whose carousing delays their journey by a week. When he finally joins the group, Lon is initially bewildered by some of the customs of the French Basques. He finds the battle cry used by the men to communicate with one another over vast distances harrowing, and also considers their practice of keeping their hearth fires burning in pots so that the spirits of their ancestors will be warm superstitious and impractical. He is most baffled, however, by the Basque custom of childhood betrothal. Instantly attracted to the fiery Gabrielle Dauphin, who respects but does not love her aging husband Andre, the leader of the group, Lon aggressively pursues her, even though she rebuffs his advances. One evening, as Lon attempts to kiss Gabrielle, Andre rushes to her aid. The young man on night guard, following Lon's orders to "shoot anything that moves," fires at Andre and kills him. Thoroughly disheartened by the death of their leader, the group decides to turn back. Gabrielle fiercely compares them to sheep, however, and reminds them about the dream for which they have traveled thousands of miles. Realizing that the people need a new leader, Gabrielle invokes the Basque custom of betrothing a widow to the deceased husband's next of kin, and in so doing, becomes engaged to Andre's younger brother Pepe. Lon refuses to drink to their happiness and several days later, tries to climb into Gabrielle's wagon as she is undressing. Gabrielle protests his boldness, stressing the importance of family in Basque culture. At that moment, Pepe appears with a rifle and orders Lon away from the wagon. As the wagon train enters the desert, Lon warns the travelers that they will die of thirst if they persist in watering the grapevines. Gabrielle and the others ignore Lon, but one by one, the horses begin to die. When Lon commands the Basques to leave most of their belongings in the desert, Pepe loses his patience, and the two men fight. Pepe uses his feet as well as his fists in the brawl, but Lon proves victorious nonetheless. Gabrielle decides that the party should head for the nearby mountains, where they are sure to find water. Lon, however, adamantly refuses to lead the group into Indian territory. Exasperated, Gabrielle trains a rifle on Lon, confiscates his guns and directs the wagon train toward the mountains. There they do, indeed, find water, but are seen by an Indian scout. As the Basques continue their journey, a hearth pot falls from a wagon, and the prairie catches fire. The travelers race toward the river, but when the wagon carrying the vines overturns, Gabrielle rushes to save the precious cargo. The fire soon surrounds her, and Lon sweeps her up on his horse just in time. Later, as the Basques empty their hearth pots into the river, Gabrielle thanks him for risking his life to save her. At that moment, one of the children sees smoke signals emanating from the hills above them. Lon scouts the area and discovers that Indians await them in the pass. When Pepe calmly suggests that their small group lead an attack on the far more numerous Indians, Lon reminds him that they have never fought Indians before. Pepe insists that the Basques are skilled mountain fighters, however, and that night, the men ascend to hiding places among the rocks. Before they go, Pepe catches sight of Gabrielle kissing Lon. Admitting that she belonged to Lon from the beginning, Gabrielle worriedly watches him leave and then prepares to lead the wagons through the pass. As the wagons approach, an Indian scout informs the warriors who are waiting to attack about their presence. The Basque men see this, and with a series of frightening war cries, they begin shooting. A long and fierce battle follows, and some of the Basque men are killed. In the end, though, they rout the Indians and rejoin the women on the other side of the pass. At the sight of several women bemoaning the loss of their men, Gabrielle, assigning the blame to herself, wildly tears at the vines. Lon reminds her that the men shared her dream and would have wanted to see it fulfilled. Lon leads Gabrielle and Pepe to a cliff and shows them the green valley below, declaring that they have arrived at their destination. Pepe remarks that in their new country, love comes first, and then, slapping Lon on the back, leaves Gabrielle's side and returns to the group. Lon and Gabrielle embrace, and the wagons enter the valley.