Colonel James Brewton is the owner of over a million acres of grazing land as part of his cattle empire. He is opposed to the opening of the West for homesteading. Lutie Cameron marries James Brewton and has a daughter with him. Lutie, overwhelmed by the vast grassland and her husband's rigid attitudes, leaves him and goes to Denver where she meets Brice Chamberlain, a progressive lawyer and has a son with him. She tells her husband the truth and he accepts it stoically. However, rumors of the situation hurt them both. Lutie leaves him again. Years later, her son is killed by a posse. Their daughter, now grown, brings Lutie and James together finally.