The year is 1865, and the American Civil War has just ended. Former slave Nate Washington and his boyhood friend, Confederate Colonel Ben Loftin head west together from the South which lies in ruins. On the Western Plains, they encounter a band of Chippewa Indians who will forever change their lives. Along the way, they must deal with a renegade band of Union Cavalry with a score to settle.

A single father and his children come to Little Bigfoot's rescue when a wealthy landowner hunts him down, hoping to use him as a profitable circus attraction.