Shyland 'Shy' Hamp is a young man who was raised on a ranch in Wyoming. Shy does not like the ranch and plans to go to college, to make a living in business rather than cattle. However, while Shy is a senior at the local university his entire family is killed in an avalanche. Shy does not want to run the ranch, but he does not want to sell it either. Therefore Shy gets rid of the cattle, selling some and killing the rest, then goes into business selling equine insurance. This business does not do well, however. Shy begins to feel like a kept man since his wife is the chief breadwinner, causing him to have a brief affair with a young girl whose brother he met on the streets of an Indian reservation. Shy also adopts a dislike of cattle and begins working with Wade Walls to stop cattle ranching in Wyoming. However, the only thing this gets Shy is a rock in the hip and discovery by his own neighbors and relatives.