Wanted by Missouri law for his vicious revenge on mob leader Dick Boggs, fifteen-year-old Dan Storm flees to the Rocky Mountains with his friend Ike, an escaped slave. But the Rocky Mountains present a whole new set of challenges. Separated from Ike in a riverboat disaster, young Dan teams up with an experienced mountain man and learns how to survive in the wild. After several narrow escapes along his journey, Dan finally stumbles upon the land of the savage Ute Indians. A remarkable crisis brings him and a young Ute warrior, Neuwafe, together. The two young men become fast friends, and Dan decides to live out his life as a member of Neuwafe's tribe, camped at the foot of majestic Mount Timpanogos. Dan soon falls in love with Neuwafe's strong-willed sister, Red Leaf, and sets out to win a dowry for her hand in marriage. Along the way he is reunited with Ike, who has become the chief and fiercest warrior of the Gosiutes, a neighboring tribe.