In 1849, Captain Stanton is court-marshaled following a fight with a superior officer Major Davolo. He is demoted to a mere army scout. His first assignment is to escort a wagon train west. He meets Major Davolo again, gets into a fight with him, and ends up killing Davolo. He is arrested on murder charges, but escapes in disguise and joins the wagon train. Stanton romances Virginia, the daughter of his former commanding officer. The couple marry and start operating their own gambling hall. When Virginia parties with her old friends from her father's regiment, Stanton incorrectly assumes that she is cheating on him. He abandons his wife and business, and becomes a gold prospector in the California Gold Rush. Stanton fails to find gold and becomes a vagrant. He visits his estranged wife in San Franscisco, and they reconcile. But he is still wanted by the army as a deserter. He is given a choice between re-enlisting in the army or getting deported. Stanton rejoins the army.
—Dimos I