After gunfire and fear of the law drive him away from his home, young John Slater Engels is forced to seek refuge in the mountains of Montana. There he meets Teddy Lightfoot, who invites the boy to live with his wife and him in a small Crow village nestled in the Absaroka Mountains. In case lawmen are still searching for him, Engels decides to drop his legal name, keeping only his middle name: Slater.

As the years go by and Slater grows into manhood, he also becomes an excellent scout--so much so that he's hired to assist the soldiers based out of Fort Ellis. But just when Slater's future begins to look bright, he crosses paths with a dangerous Sioux war chief named Iron Pony, who vows to take his life. And as Slater's past comes back to haunt him, he's forced to make some tough decisions--decisions that may cost him everything he holds dear....