The young son of a recently-killed Sioux Indian moves to Walnut Grove with his Caucasian mother, Amelia. Amelia's father agrees to let them stay with him, but is ashamed that his daughter married a Native American and ostracizes the child. Spotted Eagle also endures harsh treatment from his insensitive classmates, but the Ingalls girls become his only friends.

At the end of this episode, Miss Beadle gets extremely angry at a student, Seth, for beating up Spotted Eagle. She slams her hand down on his desk and screams in his face. This is an extremely rare bout of fury from Miss Beadle, who was usually very mild-tempered and calm, even when such issues arose in the classroom.

While Caroline stays with Mary, Charles sets out with Mr. Edwards to find work and send money back to the hospital. They eventually accept a mining job that involves building a tunnel for a railroad. Sick with fear over his daughter's illness, Charles disregards his own safety and faces serious danger.