A prophecy says that one day a great Lokota warrior will rise and lead them to victory over the white man, before being killed by one of his own kind. A young boy hears these words and is strangely moved by them. He soon has a vision of his own and sees himself in the future fulfilling this prophecy. He is Crazy Horse (Victor Mature). But before he is sure he wants to fulfill this prophecy, he wants to marry the beautiful Black Shawl (Suzan Ball) who is also being courted by Crazy Horse's rival, Little Big Man (Ray Danton). Crazy Horse wins the hand of Black Shawl which causes Little Big Man to throw a tantrum, get expelled from the tribe, and eventually join up with the US Cavalry stationed at Fort Laramie. When gold is discovered in the Sacred Black Hills, the Americans break their treaties with the Sioux as a new gold rush breaks out. The Sioux, enraged at yet another treaty violation and seeing their homeland threatened, go on the warpath, and under Crazy Horse's leadership they score several surprising victories. But treachery and a harsh winter threaten to tear the united tribes apart, which would mean certain defeat for the out gunned natives...

This is one of those rare westerns that is told entirely from the Native American side and it is the US Government and Cavalry who are clearly the villains. Unfortunately, modern audiences will be put off by the casting which has almost exclusively white actors in makeup playing the Lakotas - and this is a shame because the film actually does give a good account of the struggles the Lakota faced during the period. Victor Mature playing Chief Crazy Horse gives one of his best performances from the Fifties. Although an Italian/Swiss would never be cast as a Lakota Sioux today, Native Americans have no reason to criticize or be concerned with what Mature did with the role of one of their greatest heroes. Ray Danton in his screen debut was convincingly sinister in his portrayal of the traitor, Little Big Man. One wonders why Danton did not have a successful career as an A List leading man onscreen. He certainly had the looks and acting skills. His starring role in "The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond" in 1960 was masterful. Yet his acting career was mainly relegated to guest roles on dozens of tv shows. And I must once again give praise to the beautiful Suzan Ball, who sadly gave her farewell performance here. She was stricken with cancer and had her right leg amputated five months before filming began in June 1954. She acts this entire picture with the aid of an artificial limb, and if you watch you will notice she is either sitting or standing still in most of her scenes. She died a few months after the film was released at the young age of 21. Any scenes requiring more than taking a few careful steps were accomplished by the use of a body double photographed from the rear. She was very glamorous and a wonderful actress, who, like James Dean, no doubt would have had a long and distinguished career had she not been taken from us.