How do you defer responsibility for sexually assaulting someone? If you're an underhanded trader named Mike Wilson, you simply place the blame on Adam Cartwright, that's how. Mr. Wilson decides to have fun by assaulting two Paiute maidens and tells the Indian chief that Adam did the dastardly deed. Appalled, the Paiutes take the eldest Cartwright hostage, and before he has a chance to defend his innocence, an all-out war breaks out between the Native American tribe and the California militia.