The big rancher and pioneer veteran Lee Hackett has two sons, the ruthless daredevil Ed, who is his favorite son, and the younger Davey, whom he finds a bit too gentle. When Ed tries to win the favor of the half-Indian Clee in his arrogant way and is outdone by Davey to his surprise, he gets so angry that he is deliberately responsible for the death of Clee's brother. Chief Black Horse and Indian agent Avery try to uncover the murder, but the horse trader Sieverts, who wants to enlist the Hackets, exonerates Ed by perjury. Father Hackett does not see through the game. Only when Ed shoots two men by whom he feels threatened does the father try to bring his son to his senses. The screenplay by former film critic Frank S. Nugent is suspenseful and multidimensional, mixing action, romance as well as a family tragedy and even a courtroom drama. Nugent had written the screenplay for John Ford's classic film "The Black Falcon" two years earlier, in which he had also dealt with the racism of the settlers against the Indians. According to an anecdote by director Karlson, Columbia President Harry Cohn was so shaken by the film that he had to cry because he had two sons himself and could identify with the story.