Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west. He sets off with his son, Davy, to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy is all alone now.
The Iron Horse is a 1924 American silent epic Western film directed by John Ford and produced by Fox Film. It was the studio's hastily planned response to the success of Paramount Pictures' The Covered Wagon. The studio gave Ford his first major budget, which he exceeded. The gamble paid off, and The Iron Horse was an enormous success. The film marked the beginning of Ford's strong association with Westerns.
