It is 1865 when Morgan Lewis heads to St. Louis for what he hopes is a new beginning. Now alone and nearly penniless after losing everything in the Civil War, Morgan strikes up a friendship with Corrick McCale who helps him secure work. But it is not long before destiny leads the pair to join the Army fight against Oglala Sioux leader, Red Cloud, who opposes white man's use of the Boseman trail on the Northern Plains.
As they build Fort Stout amid Indian hunting grounds, frequent attacks kill few soldiers until December 1866 when the Indians massacre an entire company. After Colonel Stuart Westerfield arrives with his wife, Prudence, to take command, he must rely on Morgan's combat experience to help him achieve a great victory over the Indians, and more importantly, the brigadier general rank he lost at the end of the Civil War. But when Morgan urges caution and a different tactical approach, the strain between the two officers grows, especially when Prudence rekindles a former love interest in Morgan.
In this historical tale, a struggle between the Army and the Sioux Nation of the Northern Plains ensues as unresolved conflicts of earlier war and love rise to the surface and a colonel and an Indian leader battle for control.