Cecil Roop is a young man who has left his wife and children to head out to the Western frontier in the 1880s. He is in search of a grizzly cub to bring back East to show on the vaudeville circuit, but along the way becomes obsessed with Big Foot legends, and his focus shifts to the hunt for the mythical creature. On his quest he picks up eccentric companions: Sutton, a circus performer in search of gold; Roy, a one-armed, toothless gold hunter; Margaret, an Indian woman; and a pack of loyal dogs.