Francis and Quincy, two Harvard students, prepare to travel to the Great Plains to study the ways of the Indian. Francis is determined; Quincy is a layabout. In a saloon in Saint Louis, they assemble their team: Captain Chandler and a guide, Henri Chatillon. Pa tries to get hired but is rejected. Pa and Ma, traveling preachers who warn of the ills of the plains, decide to go West themselves. On the plains, Francis addresses the group about the history of the Indians, whom he claims came from China. They travel and sing. Quincy and Henri abandon the journey. Francis and Captain Chandler meet with Chief. Captain Chandler is killed by an arrow. Chief tells Francis about his love for the whites and about his people’s past. Francis and Quincy return, Francis with a strange infirmity. Francis still wants to write about the Indian Wars.