U.S. Senator William Tadlock is leaving his home in Missouri in 1843, heading west on the Oregon Trail by wagon train. His son and slave come along, with Dick Summers as a hired guide. Joining them on the expedition are farmer Lije Evans, his wife Rebecca, and 16-year-old son Brownie. Among others there are also the newlyweds Johnnie and Amanda Mack, plus the Fairman and McBee families. Shy young wife Amanda isn't satisfying his needs, so Johnnie gets drunk and strays with young Mercy McBee. He also shoots at what he drunkenly thinks is a wolf, and ends up killing a Sioux chief's son. Tadlock knows that no other form of justice will do for the Indians if the wagon train is being pursued by them out of vengeance, so he hangs Johnnie, for the safety of the traveling party, but to their outrage. On the trail, it turns out Mercy is now pregnant as well, and Brownie proposes marriage to her. Tadlock's son is killed in a stampede, causing the senator to be so distraught that he becomes harsh and despotic towards his charges. The last straw comes when Tadlock destroys Rebecca Evans' antique clock after Lije Evans refuses to abandon it. A fight ensues when Tadlock is attacked by Evans, for which Tadlock retaliates by trying to shoot Evans, only for Summers to stop him. The others form a lynch mob and attempt to hang Tadlock, but Evans talks them out of it and now takes charge of the trek. Nearly to the end, the trek reaches a steep ravine, which offers the only shortcut to their destination. Rebecca Evans shows the others Tadlock's grand plan, and Evans relinquishes command back to Tadlock. The settlers lower their possessions, livestock, and each other down the steep escarpment to reach the wagon road to the Willamette Valley. Emotionally destroyed by the loss of Johnnie, Amanda Mack cuts the rope Tadlock is descending on, causing the senator to plunge to his death. Amanda runs off into the desert, but the others, after commemorating Tadlock's efforts, press on to Oregon. Summers stays behind, departing to parts unknown.
Production
The film is notable for being the first big-budget western since 1930's widescreenJohn Wayne spectacle The Big Trail to show pioneers lowering a wagon train over a cliff with ropes. This was the second time that Mitchum and Douglas appeared in a film together since Out of the Past in 1947, after The List of Adrian Messenger in 1963. Douglas had previously filmed another A.B. Guthrie novel, The Big Sky. Filming took place in Tucson, Arizona, and various places in Oregon, including Bend, Christmas Valley, and the sand dunes and lost forest in Crooked River Gorge.
