The plot concerns an ex-gunslinger (Sterling Hayden) who arrives in a small town warning of an impending attack by his old gang.

[1] Rick Martin returns home to Casper, Wyoming, where he is unwanted because of his reputation as a gunslinger.

He does have a few friends in town, including Marshal Bat Davis and hotel owner Jim O'Hara.

Bat arrives and Rick informs him that an outlaw they have both ridden with in the past, Tom Quentin, and his gang of fifteen men are on the way to take what they want from Casper.

Rick rides to former sweetheart Laura Mead's ranch to ask her to marry him and move to California, but she is engaged to a wealthy council member, Canby Judd.