US Cavalry officer Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) takes early retirement after despairing of the Government's treatment of the Western Tribes. In the remote foothills of the Montana Rockies he builds a ranch where he brings up his three sons. When the youngest son Samuel (Henry Thomas) returns from the city with beautiful fiancée Susannah (Julia Ormond), she attracts the admiration of Alfred and Tristan, his two brothers (Brad Pitt and Aidan Quinn). After one of their number is lost in the First World War, the surviving sons return home to rebuild their lives - and fight once more for Susannah's love.
