Widowed businessman Elijah Winters brings his daughter, Cherry, to a remote area some distance from Flagstaff, Arizona. Cherry is bored with simple ranch life, and to entertain herself she flirts with the cowboys. Stephen Heftral, a young archaeologist, is searching for a lost kiva, part of a primitive Indian tribe that disappeared. Heftral believes that this lost kiva is most probably in a nearby water hole. Elijah colludes with Heftral and takes Cherry to the site, discovering the thrill of making an important archaeological discovery.