In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.
Elenco: Kirk Douglas , Robert Mitchum , Richard Widmark , Lola Albright , Jack Elam , Stubby Kaye , Michael McGreevey , Harry Carey , Jr. , Connie Sawyer , Michael Witney , William Lundigan , Elisabeth Fraser , John Mitchum , Patric Knowles , Hal Lynch , Timothy Scott , Roy Glenn , Paul Lukather , Stefan Arngrim , Roy Barcroft , Eve McVeagh , Peggy Stewart , Anne Barton , Nick Cravat , Michael Keep , Mike Lane , Sally Field , Katherine Justice .