Hired gun Doug Sadler rides into a small Western town and immediately provokes the local sheriff, Carl Brandon, by tormenting a simpleminded local named Sampson. Brandon is further provoked by a visit from city attorney Hardy, who announces that the town council is charging local rancher Ralph Carpenter with violations of morality for living with an Indian girl. Brandon, who is in love with Carpenter's estranged wife Teresa, realizes that there is something sinister behind both these events, but he is unsuccessful in preventing calamity from erupting. Eventually he must stand against his entire town in order to protect it and the law he represents.