When a black woman inherits a ranch from her recently-deceased owner, she is forced to defend her new property against a mob of racist townsfolk led by the dead man’s own brother, who proclaims himself sole beneficiary of the estate, which includes the woman and her young daughter.

Homesteader Lassiter Stark has just died, leaving his entire ranch to his house-slave (Coffee), to the dismay of his wealthy brother (Atlas) and a local pro-slavery group known as the Fire Eaters.

They scheme to rid the town of Coffee and her young daughter Josie, despite support from her former lover (Jeremiah), a sympathetic mayor and his abolitionist assistant, and a disgraced Paiute Indian. With scarce few allies and all odds against her, Coffee will risk everything to keep what is rightfully hers and secure a future for her daughter in the American West.