It's 1883 in the Dakota Territory. Sandy McKenzie has spent most of his life as a buffalo hunter in one capacity or another, he now getting tired of the life. It is a dying profession as the number of buffalo roaming the plains is nowhere what it once was. As Sandy's reputation precedes him, Charlie Gilson, who he meets in the course of hunting, convinces him to go into the buffalo trade together, it, according to Charlie, still more lucrative than the primary alternative of cattle ranching. They hire Woodfoot, a grizzled one-legged long time skinner a little too fond of the drink, and Jimmy O'Brien, a young outcast in his half-Indian background, also to be a skinner. The business partners are a mismatched pair, Sandy who is methodical and can see the big picture, while Charlie is hot headed and quick to pull a trigger to kill before asking questions, especially if the person at the other end of the gun is an Indian. Although they are able to make good money working together, there is an inevitable breaking point, with only one man left standing at the end regardless if one or the other actually pulls the trigger on the other, the issue being: a young Indian woman and her infant who join their camp out of it being an better option than the alternative, with Charlie treating her like his possession; and/or a rare white buffalo which can garner more money for them than all the others combined, it which Charlie has no qualms in killing but Sandy who wants to see it live as being a sacred beast to the Indians.—Huggo