Meanwhile, in the American Northwest, the Bannocks’ charismatic Chief Buffalo Horn leads a rogue Indian alliance on the warpath. But Paiute “Princess” Sarah Winnemucca believes this war will only bring doom. Hoping to convince her people to surrender peacefully, she becomes a scout and translator for the “Praying General,” Oliver O. Howard.

    On the train, Eva falls in love with U.S. Cavalry Sergeant Jim Adams. They later share a stagecoach until nightfall, when Jim is called away to fight the Bannocks. Eva, fearing she’ll never see him again, stows away in his wagon, but gets lost during a desert storm.
    Alone and near death, Eva is rescued by Sarah and her sister-in-law Mattie, who are headed for General Howard’s camp. Eva learns that not only has Jim disappeared, but that Sarah’s father, Chief Winnemucca (Bad Face), and Mattie’s powerful uncle, Chief Egan, are being held captive by Dreamer-Prophet Oytes, a militant Paiute shaman – now leading the alliance because Buffalo Horn has been killed in battle.

    Eva’s opinion of Indians as savages soon begins to change; in Howard’s camp she learns Sarah is the only one who can help her find Jim. But Sarah refuses, until Mattie argues that maybe the Great Father has sent Eva as an angel to “heal all the old trouble.” Sarah relents and agrees to rescue not only her own people, but to find Jim and warn Eva’s family as well, who are headed straight into the Bannock Indian War.