An Oregon reservation has suddenly been vacated and Henry Stall, a seasoned ranch owner, didn't get the news in time. He is driven to continue the expansion of his cattle empire in the American northwest, and when he goes to stake his claim, conflict erupts between the old and new guards of ranchers on the open range.
Stall combats the restraints of his age, and sets off on a strenuous endeavor to confront Jim Montana, his former employee and the commissioner of the newly vacant property. Heads turn as Stall and Montana mobilize and contend for a share in this territory—and to claim it rightfully theirs. Stall is determined to defend his reputation as a veteran proprietor, while Montana wants to assert his own authority as an emerging official, and their collision sets off a whirlwind of scraps, skirmishes, and showdowns.
It falls upon each ranch to wrangle whatever forces it can to carve out a corner of the expanding cattle country before its neighbors. When the law of the land overrides the governing regulations on boundary lines, what emerges is a full-blown range war—and putting down a stake on unclaimed territory becomes more hazardous than ever.