Rye, a twenty-two-year-old veteran of the Texas Revolution, returns to the Republic of Texas in 1839 after three years of wandering. While traveling through Lost Maples Canyon he discovers a gold mine filled with rattlesnakes.

After filing claim to the land, Rye sends word to his friend Kel, brother Darryl, and cousin Dennis who help him build the Lost Maples Ranch and operate the Rattlesnake Gold Mine. The four young cowboys become befuddled but enthusiastic fathers to Kara, a three-year-old Karankawa girl orphaned by the Comanche and rescue Heidi, a seventeen-year-old German immigrant who witnessed her family's massacre.

Outlaws try to take the mine and the Comanche just want to kill everyone. When outlaws can't steal the gold, crooked politicians step in to steal the mine. Captain Eldridge, the head of the Texas Rangers, and General Sam Houston offer assistance to combat the crooks.