Sodbusters are about equal to farm ani-

reals on the social scale of the ranching

community of Wyoming in the 1870s.

Zachariah and Carrie Bennett, teen-

aged ehildren of that wretched class,

are determined to escape the trap of

destitution, desolation, and scorn that

has worn down their parents.

Adolph Bennett, their abusive, Bible-

spouting father, makes an already mis-

erable existence unbearable. It is his

evil temper that finally forces his chil-

dren to flee.

Carrie is rescued from a runaway

wagon by the dangerously seductive

cowboy Rio Aider. She tails in love

with him and, believing his proposal of

marriage, compromises herself.After a

shoot- em-up showdown in Cheyenne,

she is branded a whore and savagely

beaten by her father. Rio takes oil and

Can ie resolves to follow him to Texas, on foot.Zach reluctantly accompanies her.