Synopsis: Texas drifter Dempsey Rae enters Wyoming in search of work as a cattle herder. In his company is another drifter, young Jeff Jimson, whom he mentors in the same line of work. The two find employment on a ranch owned by a steely woman from the East, Reed Bowman. When Bowman's increasing, unfenced herds begin crowding out the smaller ranches, violence escalates on the range -- and Dempsey and Jeff must choose which is the lesser of two evils.