Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.

The story concerns two grizzled mountain men — Bill Tyler and Henry Frapp — during the dying days of the fur-trapping era. The plot begins when Running Moon runs away from her abusive husband Heavy Eagle and comes across the two seedy fur trappers. The mountain men take her in, unaware that Heavy Eagle has dispatched an army of Indian braves to reclaim her.