what was life like in montana in 1948?

Survival of the fittest as well as intense racism were a part of this world. Frank Hayden, for example, is a sexual predator whose arrest for raping Native Indian woman ultimately reveals the dark heart of such malevolent racism that it almost defies belief. Frank has convinced himself that he was committing any crime because Native American are subhuman. When combined with his own sense of entitlement at being a superior member of his own race, the very act of assault is instantly negated as criminal behavior in the same way that most people would never consider stepping on a roach to be a sin.