In 1913 Sarah Rector, as a descendant of the Muscogee Nation, is granted nearly 160 acres of uncultivated land in Glenpool, Oklahoma under the terms of the Reconstruction Treaties. With the encouragement of her mother Rose, Sarah believes that the land beneath their home is rich in oil. Sarah convinces her reluctant father Joe to make a deal with local oil executive Jim Devnan to conduct a preliminary exploration of the land. Though Devnan's company discovers that the Rectors' land is rich in oil, he withhold this information from the family, seeking to steal the oil from the African American family.