This episode is well cast and well-acted, but it is very similar to other episodes, and especially to the episode titled "Crooked Mile" from Season 10. This story contains elements of Romeo & Juliet, along with one of the favorite recurring western themes of a possessive landowner refusing to concede land to homesteaders (or "squatters" depending on the perspective.)
Ben, played excellently by George Kennedy, has a beautiful daughter, Elizabeth or "Betsy," played by the beautiful, young Lesley Ann Warren. He is possessive of her, just as he is possessive of the massive amount of land he has developed. In Ben's mind, no man is good enough for Betsy.
The McGovern family -- immigrants from Scotland -- come along and stake their claim to a piece of public-domain land that Ben considers his property. Adam McGovern, in another great acting job by James MacArthur, and Betsy meet and fall in love. Not only does Ben consider the McGoverns are "squatting" on HIS land (they aren't), but he sure doesn't want Betsy to marry Adam McGovern.
It is interesting that George Kennedy plays the jealous father in this story, just as he did in "Crooked Mile." Kennedy's Cyrus Degler in "Crooked Mile" is virtually indistinguishable from Kennedy's Ben Payson in this episode. Both ultimately learn the hard way that they cannot possess their daughters. This episode does not end as tragically as "Crooked Mile," however. It is worth noting that Les Crutchfield wrote both "Crooked Mile" and "Harvest."
This episode is the final appearance of George Kennedy on Gunsmoke. He appeared in a total of seven episodes going back to the Season 6 installment, "The Blacksmith."
This is the only James MacArthur appearance on Gunsmoke. MacArthur enjoyed a long acting career and was best known for his role as Dan "Danno" Williams in the Hawaii Five-O series.
Ted Jordan appears here for the last time as someone other than the Nathan Burke character. He would soon officially join the cast on a regular basis, but he frequently appeared prior to his role as Burke. In this story, he is one of Ben Payson's ranch hands named Leemer.
Fred Coby is seen in this episode as another of Payson's employees. Coby did not make as many Gunsmoke appearances as Ted Jordan, but he did appear in seventeen different episodes.
In the end, I find this episode to be a bit too derivative of many other western stories...even earlier Gunsmoke episodes. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining story.