Gray Otter, the last of a line of powerful Sioux chiefs, eagerly awaits the return of his son from the government school, to save the name and the glory of his clan from extinction. Tiah, however, turns out to be a drunken renegade. Violating the peace compact between his father and the colonel of the local garrison, he leads an attack upon the army paymaster. The old chief surprises him in action, and swiftly deciding that his son's crime is punishable only with death, he shoots and kills Tiah. The American soldiers all are killed by the Indians, who then escape. Gray Otter makes the colonel believe that Tiah died defending the paymaster, and has the happiness of seeing the last of his line buried with high military honors.