New Mexico is in the middle of a dreaded dry year, and yet an old, blind cowman named Eagle Strange, living in retirement on his range Big Springs with his only daughter, Memory, is unaffected by the drought until sheep threaten to invade his stronghold.
Centuries ago the Picture Rocks were painted by a tribe of Arizona Indians that since have vanished, leaving behind the powerful figures on the virtually inaccessible cliff walls. For many years the Picture Rocks basin has sheltered the Jore family from the law. The basin also shelters a fabulous palomino stallion called Black Wing. The Jores have left him to run free with the wild herd, but Race Coulter has a different plan. He has convinced a young kid named Rene Rand to help him steal Black Wing. But when Rand is befriended by the Jores after a serious illness, he learns lessons that will change the direction of his life.
For generations Arizona's Picture Rocks -- magnificent and virtually inaccessible cliffs -- sheltered the Jores from the long arm of the law. The Jores have recently come into the possession of Black Wing, one of the finest stallions ever bred in America. When three race-track fanatics -- a melancholy, saddle-born cowboy, the Reno Kid; the flashy gambler, Race Coulter; and the shrewd race horse breeder, Luke Chartres -- enter that stronghold determined to carry away this equine treasure by right or by might, they find themselves in an almost foreign world. In addition to the strange tribe of outlaws, they encounter an opponent of sinister power and must reckon with the fury of a half-crazed youth, the most daring of the Jores.