The Iron Mistress

Jim Bowie leaves his home in the Louisiana bayou to travel to New Orleans and sell lumber. The journey sets him on a path into broader social circles and new opportunities.

Jim defends the future artist James Audubon, which offends Narcisse de Bornay and leads to a duel challenge. He charms his way out of the duel, and Narcisse becomes his friend.

Narcisse is killed by Henri Contrecourt, who is courting Judalon. Contrecourt then challenges Jim to a duel, pitting his sword against Bowie's knife. In the encounter, Jim kills Contrecourt.

Judalon declines Jim's marriage proposal, sending him back home. Jim returns to his Louisiana roots and grows wealthy from the cotton business, drawing the ire of Juan Moreno, a powerful Mississippi cotton grower.

Jim enters a horse in a high-stakes race, drawing heavy betting. He learns that Judalon has married Philippe de Cabanal, and privately she plans to obtain a divorce later, a difficult undertaking at the time.

Following bettors’ demands for disqualification of Jim's horse, he must travel to Nashville to verify the signature of the previous owner. On the way, a renowned blacksmith forges Jim a stronger knife using fragments of a meteorite.

Jim learns that Judalon has been seeing Moreno, adding personal betrayal to the mounting tensions. The revelation heightens the conflict between Jim and those around him.

During the confrontation with Moreno, the rival shoots one man and stabs Jim. Jim uses his meteorite-forged knife to kill Moreno, turning the tide of the conflict in his favor.

Judalon explains she cultivated Moreno for political influence to secure a divorce, but she remains married to Philippe. The revelation confirms her manipulative aims and loyalties.

Jim is seriously wounded while traveling toward Texas. He is nursed back to health by Ursula Veramendi, daughter of the Governor of the Texas province of adjacent Mexico.

Back in New Orleans to wrap up his affairs, Jim encounters Judalon and Philippe aboard a luxurious steamboat. He exposes one of Philippe's cheaters and returns Philippe's money to him.

Judalon tells Philippe she is leaving him for Jim, signaling a dramatic shift in the triangle of power and affection surrounding Jim.

Phillippe and Bloody Jack Sturdevant come to kill Jim but end up killing each other instead, a fatal miscalculation fueled by jealousy and greed.

Jim abandons Judalon, throws his knife into the river, and marries Ursula Veramendi, choosing a new life away from the treacherous entanglements of his past.