An ageing rancher finds himself short-handed when his workers abandon him during a gold rush, and grudgingly hires a group of schoolboys to help him on a 400-mile cattle drive. Although at first they feel out of their depth, the youngsters quickly learn to work like men - but face a dangerous challenge ahead as a gang of rustlers begins to stalk them. Western, with John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne and Bruce Dern