Thanks for the review. 
I haven't read the novel, but this is actually ma favorite Ford film from the four I've seen (the other three are Stagecoach (1939), The Iron Horse (1924) and The Searchers (1956))
I like it very much, and to me the deficits you mentioned didn't appear as striking. In fact I got a sense of the things you missed in the film. Quote:There is no desperation, there is no starving, and there isnt the community of the novel
I saw all this in the film...
And I like the neding very much, though it would have been probably even better without the speech.