Trying to steal a horse, Gar's face is grazed by a bullet shot by young Chad Grey, whose mother Celia tends to the stranger's wound.

Permitted to ride to Santa Fe to get help, Gar ends up killing Clett for the rifles, bringing them back to save the fort and to win the widow's trust.

[2] Howard Thompson of The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, writing, "As for the plot, written by Burt Kennedy and George W. George, Mr. Walker plays a murder fugitive who rescues a widow and her small son from some Comanches and finally clears his name by leading a stockade defense against a mass attack.

For the first two-thirds of this Martin Rackin production almost nothing happens, as the hero, Miss Mayo and young Richard Eyer drag across the prairie.

And toward the end, a couple of nice sideline performances click into place—namely, Brian Keith, as a renegade, and Russ Conway, as a sheriff.