Massacre

Ramón, the captain of a troop of Mexican Rurales, pursues gunrunner Miguel Chávez into Yaqui territory, where he has been smuggling weapons to the Indians. Tracking the renegade to the trading post that he owns with his wife Angélica, Ramón questions the wily Angélica about her absent husband's whereabouts. Claiming that Chávez has gone to purchase supplies, Angélica defends her husband against Ramón's accusations of gunrunning, but Ramón becomes suspicious when a group of Indians comes to the post bearing rifles they found along the trail. Declaring that they have come to kill the trader because he sold them defective medicine that blinded many in their tribe, the Indians set up camp to await Chávez' return. When Ramón discovers a cache of the poisonous medicine at the trading post and wagon tracks leading into the woods where the Indians found the guns, he questions Angélica's honesty and grants the Indians permission to burn down the trading post. When Ramón decrees that Angélica must join them in their quest for her husband, Esparza, Ramón's second-in-command who has become infatuated with the alluring Angélica, apologizes to her. After the leader of the tribe assigns Juan Pedro to scout for the Rurales, Ramón and his men head deeper into Yaqui country to meet Lt. Sandoval and his reinforcements. As the days pass, Esparza falls under Angélica's spell. When they finally reach the spot where they are to rendezvous with Sandoval, they find only abandoned horses. As Ramón searches for the missing Sandoval, Angélica sows seeds of suspicion about Juan Pedro, thus pitting Esparza against him. Just as Angélica passionately embraces Esparza, Ramon returns with Sandoval's lifeless body, a victim of Chávez' gunrunners. As the troops continue their relentless pursuit, Angélica convinces Esparza that Juan Pedro is deliberately leading them along the wrong trail. After a Yaqui scout wounds one of soldiers with an arrow, Esparza, certain that Juan Pedro has betrayed them, attacks him. When Esparza tries to shoot Juan Pedro in the back, Ramón kicks the gun from his hand and then confiscates the weapon. Later, Ramón appeals to Angélica for help, telling her that his entire family was massacred by Indians bearing guns, but Angélica, greedy for the riches promised by the sale of the rifles, refuses to cooperate. One night, under cover of darkness, Angélica sneaks over to Esparza's bedroll and persuades him to desert with her. Watching them depart, Ramón decides to follow them and instructs his men to continue without him. Promising to leave her husband as soon as she comes into possession of the profits, Angélica leads Esparza deeper into Yaqui territory. From a hilltop, Angélica spots Ramón on their trail, and tries to goad Esparza into shooting him. When he refuses, she pushes him down the hill into Ramón's path and then gallops off. As Ramón pursues Angélica into the woods, the rest of the Rurales arrive and arrest Esparza. Jumping off her horse, Angélica continues on foot and comes to a clearing, where a group of Yaqui Indians are torturing several of her husband's gunrunners. Ramón catches up to her, and after the Indians leave, one of the dying men divulges the location of Chávez' hideout. After Juan Pedro points the way to the hideout, he leaves to rejoin his tribe. Desperate to beat the Yaquis to the guns, Ramón reaches Chávez' hideout and threatens to kill Angélica unless the gunrunners disarm. After Chávez and his men surrender their weapons, war drums signal the approach of the Yaquis. Aware that certain death awaits them at the hands of the Yaquis, Ramón orders the guns and ammunition destroyed, and Esparza sacrifices his own life to blow up the cache of weapons. That night, Angélica schemes with Chávez to steal some rifles and hide from the Indians, but Ramón discovers them and thwarts their plot. The next morning, the Indians attack, killing all present. Angélica is the last to die.