The film opens as Eddie Lomax drives an Indian motorcycle in an open desert plain (referred to as the Dry Lake). Soon enough, the motorcycle breaks down and Eddie dismounts, carrying nothing but his jacket, his .45 pistol, and a bottle of tequila. As he lies in the desert drinking, he eventually sees his friend Johnny Sixtoes, an Indigenous person of Mexico, to whom he had sent a postcard notifying him of his arrival.