Harriet Frank

When a rancher is deserted by his regular cattle drivers for the gold mines, he (Wayne) is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his drivers in order to cross the 400 treacherous miles to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under his tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys are aware that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

Ben Quick, an industrious con artist who's known throughout the country as a barn burner, gets run out of a Mississippi town. He meets up with Clara Varner, whose father is pressuring her to get married and provide him with grandchildren. It isn't long before he decides Ben and Clara should marry, and when she resists, it sets up a dramatically escalating clash of wills.

Hud Bannon has always preferred drinking, fighting and womanizing to the very traditional ways of his father. Hud is a man who cares more for himself than he does his young nephew, his dad, or even their understanding housekeeper. When disease threatens the cattle on the Bannon Ranch, the conflict between Hud and his old-line father reaches an all time high.