A precocious eight-year-old girl is orphaned on the streets of New York City and soon finds herself under the reluctant care of an uncle and aunt from London. They journey by train to San Francisco and at this impressionable age she has her first experience with the West. From that point forward she is drawn inexorably back. The resilient little girl becomes a strong-willed young woman who is undaunted from pursuing a life of creativity and independence. The one constant in her life is her devotion to her art and her desire to capture the beauty and grandeur of the natural West before it is lost forever. As a beautiful young woman she is entirely dismissive of her looks and of the power she could wield over men, ultimately surrendering her heart to only one, and then only for a fleeting fortnight. Caught between the romantic myths and the practical realities of the plight of the last free-roaming American Indians, she worries that her efforts to help them are just another form of exploitation, however, and finally seeks the solace of the Grand Canyon to pursue her art. At last her soaring talent and unending passion are recognized and she finds the peace in her life that had so long eluded her.