In the 1890's Frank T. Hopkins, a former U.S. Cavalry dispatch rider who is haunted by memories of what he saw at the battle of Wounded Knee, and his mustang Hidalgo, are performing in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, billed as the greatest horse and rider the West has ever known. This leads them to be invited to run in the 3,000 mile endurance race across the Middle Eastern desert, the Ocean of Fire, by one of the leading Arabian Sheiks. The race soon...

After returning the body of Gus McCrae to Lonesome Dove, Woodrow Call takes on the challenge of driving a herd of wild mustangs 2500 miles north of the Hat Creek Ranch in Montana. But tragedy, despair and deceit will greet him before he ever gets there.