When a geologist who horse wrangler Jake Holley has been gambling with dies of fever after telling him that he has found gold, Jake travels to the Telluride Hills to take over his claim. Here, he does indeed find gold nuggets. Then a trapper called Lemaitre jumps his claim and leaves Jake for dead. Badly injured, Jake manages to get back to civilization where his hand, infected with gangrene, is cut off. Nearly a year after his 'death', and fitted with an iron hand of his own design, he goes back to the claim to get revenge against Lemaitre, where he is attacked by an Indian called Bear. It transpires that Bear's betrothed, the beautiful White Dove, has been kidnapped by Lemaitre and that Bear has mistakenly attacked Jake (Iron Hand), believing him to be Lemaitre. The two men form an alliance and travel together to track him down and to rescue White Dove. However, it soon becomes apparent that White Dove has a secret in her past that will endanger both men and soon both Iron Hand and Bear realize that they will have to rely on each other's skills if they are to survive.