In post-Civil War Texas, two neighboring families are grieving tragic losses while they struggle to survive. The cattle-ranching McCluskeys have lost both a son and their entire herd to the war. The Rileys, who have loss a wife and mother Mary to illness, eke out a living trapping animals. When Wade returns from fighting for the Confederacy, he discovers that Randolph McCluskey and family have been stealing animals from the family traps. He decides to take matters into his own hands.