Headstrong Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker) is in hot pursuit of frontiersman Bushrod Gentry (Robert Taylor), and is determined to make him her husband. Naturally, Bushrod has no desire to leave the happy, wandering life of a trapper. He heads north to escape Mary's nuptial advances. But with hostile Shawnee Indians at every turn, Bushrod and Mary must set aside their differences and work together to survive the wilds of the unfamiliar territory.