Adopted by the wealthy rancher Arch Strobie, orphan Owen Daybright (Burt Lancaster) grows to be a respectable foreman on Strobie's ranch. Strobie's natural son, Lee (Robert Walker), is jealous of Owen and finally finds a way to undermine his upstanding brother. When Lee conceives an illegitimate child with Lily Fasken (Sally Forrest), who refuses to name him as the father, he tells her revenge-minded brothers that Owen is to blame, hoping they'll take his half-brother out of the picture.