Conchata Ferrell is a widow with a young daughter. She goes to work for Wyoming rancher Rip Torn and learns about the hard beauty of the high country.

Richard Pearce's movies seem to be about small towns and open spaces, and in this movie, he offers both with a patina of almost deadpan humor; the quavery violin solo of "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" is a clear signal of a sour joke throughout. The leads give terrific performances. So does Lilia Skala as a neighbor who kindly advises Miss Ferrell that the Equality State is no place for a woman. Fred Murphy's camerawork is just like the rest of the movie: plain and ugly with glimpses of beauty.

I saw this 25 years ago on PBS. It was very difficult to watch. So real. To watch this small family struggle in the winter was heart rending. No time for courting: fate has thrown us together and we put our shoulders to the grindstone and make it work. This was based on the woman's actual diary, which I read many years later. She said in her diary that her parents died when she was little and all their bothers and sisters had to work the farm to feed themselves. She learned to mow, which was not lady-like. She was afraid that no prince charming would want a woman with sun-browned, calloused hands, but this husband was so happy that his new wife knew how to mow, and she was happy to do it. Both were widowed and together they worked to build a new home. It was so, so sad when the baby died. Of course, if they had it today, I am sure it would have been fine. That only makes the tragedy extra sad. I was crying so hard. But then they went out and successfully pulled out a new calf. Spring is on its way, and life goes on. In her diary, she did have two more boys and they lived.

Portrays the day to day stark reality of survival on a ranch in the old west. Outstanding acting by both principal actors. This doesn't even feel like a movie...you feel like you're there. Animal activists should beware...many scenes are obviously not just realistic...they are real.