In a greatly fictionalised form, it depicts the war between Sitting Bull and the American forces, leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Custer's Last Stand.

His fiancée Kathy (Mary Murphy), daughter of Parrish's commanding general, breaks off their engagement because he has not risen in rank.

Parrish gains no friends among the civilian community when he chastises them and threatens to "break heads" when they violate Sioux lands.

Back in the West, now-Captain Parrish meets Kathy, who has announced her engagement to Charles Wentworth (William Hopper), a former major and now a war correspondent.

Following the Battle of the Little Bighorn that eliminates Custer, most of his men, and his romantic rival Wentworth, Parrish tries to befriend Sitting Bull and war leader Crazy Horse (Iron Eyes Cody).

Though sympathetic to the Native Americans, Minnesota producer Wilfred R. Frank irritated the Sioux by not filming his epic at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.