“Working on several levels, the film is entertaining as an outdoor adventure, a study in character and a movie with an explicit, but never heavy-handed, message.” (Film4)

A lowly fur trapper named Joe Bass (played by Burt Lancaster) is making his way to the trading post with his most recent haul when he is accosted by a group of Kiowa Indians. They force Bass to trade his furs for a well-educated, escaped slave named Joseph (Ossie Davis). Bass follows the Indians in hopes of retrieving his furs and Joseph agrees to help on the condition that Bass get him to Mexico where slavery is outlawed.