Set in Kansas during the early 1900's, Charlie, a teenaged Native American boy, is taken from his family and forced to attend a distant Indian 'training' school to assimilate into white society. The motto of the school: "Kill the Indian, Save the Man". When he escapes to return to his family, Sam Franklin, a bounty hunter of Cherokee descent, is hired to find and return him to the institution. Franklin, a former Indian scout for the U.S. Army, has renounced his Native heritage and has adopted the White Man's way of life, believing it's the only way for Indians to survive. Along the way, a tragic incident spurs Franklin's longtime nemesis, the famous 'Indian Fighter', Sheriff Henry McCoy, to pursue both Franklin and the boy.