The Bolt brothers' journey home from an out-of-town trip is interrupted by gunfire. They investigate, finding a frightened Indian youth shot in the leg. An old man, a woman and two children lie dead in a lean-to. The boy tries to attack, but collapses from a loss of blood. The Bolts bring the boy back to Seattle, where he becomes the subject of much fear and concern.

       Aaron identifies the boy as an Apache, and warns the Bolts. "For the same reason a man will teach himself about snakes, I had to teach myself a little bit about the Apache, and they're poisonous. Every one of 'em," Stempel tells them. As they argue about the danger posed to the town, Lottie screams for help. The men race in to the cabin, where she and Candy have tried to take care of the boy's leg wound. Confused by what was happening, the Apache boy grabbed Candy, and with one arm around her throat, he holds sharp scissors to her. The men free Candy and wrap the boy tightly in a blanket to subdue him. Aaron warns Jason that Seattle will hold the Bolts responsible if the boy causes more trouble, and Jason remains convinced that both the boy and the town must learn to trust each other.

       The Bolt brothers take the boy up to the logging camp where they trim his hair and provide him with clothing to make him look more like the other citizens of Seattle. He learns some of the ways of the white man—including the sound of the dinner bell, but Joshua wonders if that will be enough for those like Stempel. "He hates the Apache. Now how do you change that?"

       The next morning, Jason takes the boy to show his changed appearance off to the town He leaves the boy in the wagon, while he goes inside Ben's store. Alerted by screams of panic, he races out to see the Apache boy driving off in the wagon with Molly and Christopher. Jason jumps on a horse to pursue.

       He finds them near the clearing where the Indian family was attacked. The boy points to each grave, saying the name of the person buried there. His own name, he reveals, is "Hosanna". Jason brings the children and Hosanna safely back to Seattle singing "The Bear Went Over The Mountain". Jason feels confident that now that the boy has shared his name and his motives are understood, things will improve.

       At Lottie's, Aaron confronts Jason angrily, blaming him for putting the town at risk. Jason realizes that there is more to the Aaron's anger and asks him about it. In Lottie's back room, Aaron reveals his reasons privately to Jason. 

       Back in Seattle, it appears as if Hosanna may be accepted into the community. He heads over to a lunch with Molly and Christopher but suddenly hears high-pitched laughter coming from outside the general store - the same laugh that he heard from one of the men who murdered his family. He enters the store and sees a trapper trying to trade some Indian trinkets - a tobacco pouch, toys, a beaded necklace - to Ben. Hosanna grabs a hunting knife from the counter and attacks the trapper.

       The possibility of Hosanna being dangerous causes fear among the townspeople and they meet in Lottie's to discuss what happened. When Ben mentions that the trapper Hosanna attacked was trying to sell him some Indian-made items, Jason realizes that the items must have belonged to Hosanna's family and convinces everyone, including Aaron, that the trapper was probably one of the attackers. Aaron tells Jason that the trapper's two partners have formed a posse to find Hosanna, and they realize the danger the boy is in.

       Jason sets out in pursuit, and catches up with the posse. He convinces them that he is out to capture the boy and they separate. Jason finds Hosanna at the gravesite and reluctantly explains that he must go north to Canada where he will be safe.

       The posse arrives at the graves just a few minutes later and Jason claims to have killed and buried the Indian boy. One of the trappers accuses him of lying, saying that there were always four graves, and Jason confronts him with the information that only his brothers and the murderers knew that, and so they are captured.

       In the final scene, the Bolts and Pruitts plant flowers at the gravesites and erect a small white picket fence. Molly asks Jason if he thinks that they will ever see Hosanna again. Jason replies that he hopes so, when "we're a little more civilized".