West Texas in the years after the Civil War is an uneasy meeting ground of two cultures, one white. The other native American. Elvis portrays Pacer Burton. The son of a white rancher (John McIntire) and his beautiful Kiowa Indian wife (Dolores DelRio). When fighting breaks out between the settlers and natives, Pacer tries to act as a peace maker, but the "flaming star of death" pulls him irrevocably into the deadly violence.

In the Old West, impressionable teenagers Will, Les and Tod find an injured bank-robber who asks for their help. At first, the boys are scared and reluctant to help. They're afraid of getting into trouble with the law and their parents. Moved by the wounded man's pleas, they finally agree to hide the robber in Will's barn and clean his wounds. Over the next few days, they bring food, drink and clean clothes to the outlaw whose name is Harry Spikes. When the sheriff and his posse come by and ask questions, Will hides the fact the robber is concealed in his family's barn. After he sufficiently recovers, Harry Spikes thanks the boys for their help and vows to help them in return if they ever need his aid. He takes Will's horse and leaves the county, heading for the Mexican border. Later, Will's parents discover their son's little mischievous secret and administer Will a severe beating to teach him to never lie. Fed up with his father's frequent physical punishments, Will runs away from ...

Cat(herine) Ballou's family farm is being threatened by the Rail Road. She sends for Kid Shelleen, finding him to be the drunkest gunfighter in the west. When her father is killed by the rail road magnate's gunman, she vows to fight on. Shelleen manages to ride sideways in several scenes, while minstrels sing the ballad of Cat Ballou in between scenes.

An Apache warrior who defies U.S. attempts to bring the Indians under control grapples with an array of U.S. soldiers sent to subdue his revolt. Sympathetic scouts seek to bring Geronimo back to the reservation before he is hunted down.