Orrin and Tyrel Sackett are forced to leave their home in the Tennessee mountains when Tyrel shoots Long Higgins, after he accidentally shoots Orrin's bride-to-be. Higgins is th elast of a family with which the Sacketts have been feuding. To keep from getting into a situation with the local sheriff, a distant cousin of the Sacketts, the two strike out for the wetsern lands. With Cap Roundtree and Tom Sunday, the brothers settle in the town of Mora, New Mexico, and sent for the rest of the family. Orrin marries Laura Pritts, whose father, Jonathan Pritts, comes West with the idea of taking land from the Sapanish who own most of the big grants. When his attempt to do so by political means fails, he tries force.