At a U.S. Army fort in the Arizona Territory in 1881, an officer is murdered and his beautiful young daughter is beaten, raped and strangled. Sergeant Braxton Rutledge (Woody Strode), a black cavalry soldier, is charged with rape and murder. Army lawyer Lieutenant Tom Cantrell, a white man (Jeffrey Hunter), is sent to defend the accused. The story begins in a courtroom and it is told through flashbacks featuring Juano Hernandez as Sgt. Matthew Luke Skidmore.