After Hoyt City dedicates a statue to its founder Ethan Hoyt (Joel McCrea), the woman who inspired his achievement, Hanna Sampler (Barbara Stanwyck), tells their story to a young biographer. She begins with their elopement in 1848 when she was a headstrong girl of sixteen and Ethan was an idealist yearning to build a city in the West. Their future was fraught with difficulties, from life in a prairie shack to a fruitless search for gold and, ultimately, to Ethan's jealousy over Hanna's friendship with gambler (Brian Donlevy). Through it all, she remained what she is today: the woman who sacrificed everything for Ethan's sake.