I'm not going to go on living in the middle of a civil war. Retired sea Captain James McKay (Gregory Peck) arrives in the sprawling land of the West to marry fiancée Patricia Terrill (Carroll Baker). With an amiable, almost pacifistic approach to life, McKay confounds the ranchers he is now mixing with. Particularly the Terrill ranch foreman Steve Leech (Charlton Heston) who takes an immediate ...

Gregory Peck ("McKay") is a well off, retired, sea captain who arrives to marry his fiancée "Pat Terrill" (Carroll Baker) and finds himself amidst the mother of all turf wars between her father "Major Terrill" (Charles Bickford) and his arch rival "Rufus Hannassey" (Burl Ives) and his disparate sons. Add to the mix, quite a bit of rivalry from Charlton Heston ("Leech") who is the Major's right han...