Lucie Garret, owner of the vast Garret holdings, learns she will die soon of an incurable disease. Her fatal illness develops simultaneously with a critical freeze which threatens the survival of the livestock. The woman uses this period to test her son and heir and to determine the disposition of her estate.

A shrewd businesswoman (Joanna Barnes) acquires ownership of a processing plant vital to Garret Ranch mining activities.

Redigo tangles with the U.S. Forest Service when the Garret Ranch becomes involved in a water pollution problem complicated by murder.