After losing his mother and father at the age of thirteen, the young Bart Carter finds himself alone in strange country on his way to Colorado. Not long into his trek, he comes across a drunk who uses a long leather whip on him. One lash cuts a gash from the boy’s ear to his chin, marking him for life with a grotesque scar. Bart is dying of infection in his injuries when Liz Douglas, a girl his own age who was traveling in a wagon train with her parents, finds him lying unconscious in a field. Bart becomes a member of the Douglas family, and as time passes, Bart’s and Liz’s relationship blossoms, even though they aren’t aware of it.

It takes months, but Bart finally accepts his appearance and earns his way into society’s mainstream in the little Colorado town of Flat Peaks. During his trek on the wagon train, Bart generates a friendship with the Navajo and Ute Indians, especially with an old chief of great importance, which becomes vital as the family ventures into ranching.

As Bart matures, he learns to drive and service cattle. He learns to hunt wild animals and the skill of fighting from Mr. Douglas. As time passes, Bart and Liz leave the ranch and go their own way, Bart to Chicago where he works in a cattle slaughter plant, and Liz to Philadelphia to finishing school to become a school teacher.

Returning to Flat Peaks a few years later, Liz has matured into a beautiful woman, and Bart, or Scar as he is now known, has grown into a tall, muscular man. It takes a near death experience of Scar getting shot by hoodlums for Liz and Bart to face the reality of their love for each other. Scar thinks Liz is more deserving of someone who can shower her with life’s luxuries, but Liz has different ideas.