Through circumstance has left him completely alone at one of the Army's most isolated outposts, Dunbar is entranced by the wild, open country surrounding him. With his horse as sole companion, the lieutenant settles in to wait for the relief column he is certain will arrive soon. But while he watches for soldiers, a different kind of column moves into the neighbourhood only a few miles downriver from his solitary post. Fresh from winter camp, the Comanches have returned, as they always do, to their favourite summer hunting grounds.