In 1849, Daniel Dillon, his wife Elena and their daughter Hope head for California in search of gold. After being lost in a winter blizzard, they stumble upon a hut with a sign above it which reads "Thy Kingdom Come". Fuelled by drink and a lust for gold, Dillon sells his wife and daughter to the prospector in exchange for a gold claim. Twenty years later, Elena and Hope return to the settlement of Kingdom Come and find it a prosperous town and Dillon a wealthy man. Consumed by guilt, Dillon remarries Elena. However, jealousy and rejection take their toll and one momentary lapse of human weakness of twenty years ago brings a final and terrible retribution.
