In 1913, in Oklahoma, oil derrick owner Lena Doyle (Faye Dunaway), aided by her father (Sir John Mills) and a hobo (George C. Scott), is stubbornly drilling for oil despite the pressure from major oil companies to sell her land.
A former bodyguard of President Lincoln digs his way out of a grave but has amnesia. He gets involved with a group of Civil War veterans who want to assassinate Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.