Just shy of his thirteenth birthday, Daniel Doyle, a backward, diminutive, Irish lad is conscripted into the British Army. Sent to America, he takes part in the Battle of New Orleans as a drummer boy. Captured during the battle, he is kidnapped by a mountain man and taken north, where he almost loses his life near Saint Louis. Daniel's red hair and penetrating green eyes are considered a good omen by the Chickasaw Indians living on the Mississippi River, so they adopt him as a blood brother. While living in their village, he rescues a young white girl being held by river pirates and helps her reunite with her with her parents who have settled at Fort Smith on the border of Mexican owned Texas. As he matures, Daniel comes to understand more about the psychic powers he was blessed with at birth. Learning how to use them, he soon learns how to control others. Serving as a scout for the Cavalry, Daniel becomes a captive of the Apache and is ordered by their god, Usen, to teach the ways of the encroaching white man to a young brave named Goyathlay. A warrior destined to be called Geronimo.