Following the near massacre of his tribe a young Cheyenne brave (Billy Wirth) is brought by renowned bounty hunter Gypsy Smith (Sidney Poitier) to live with white settlers John Maxwell (Michael Moriarty) and his wife Nora (Farrah Fawcett). As the boy renamed Corby becomes a man he captures the heart of the Maxwell's beautiful daughter Rachel. But when John learns of their relationship he sends Rachel off to school in St. Louis while Corby rejoins his native people. Gypsy meantime becomes marshall of Freedom the Oklahoma territory's first black settlement. But the new town ignites a firestorm of hatred among the local Ku Klux Klan secretly led by the wealthy and influential Shelby Hornbeck (Hart Bochner). After marrying Rachel Shelby embarks on a malicious path that pits him against both Gypsy and Corby setting the stage for the saga's dramatic conclusion.