The feisty, domineering cattle baron Matt Devereaux (Tracy) rules his vast empire with a ruthless hand. Because Matt's greatest love id for his Indian wife, Princess (Jurado) and their son Joe, Matt's three sons from a previous marriage deeply resent them. After Joe agrees to go to jail for a crime his father commits, he returns three years later to a different world-his father has died and his vengeful brothers control the land.