Clay Santell (Audie Murphy) has his horse stolen and stops in the town of Sutterville. He is mistaken by townspeople for a murderer named Travers (Jan Merlin), so hand him over to Marshal Harry Deckett (Stephen McNally). Deckett knows the truth but decides to kill Clay and pass him off as the real Travers to enhance his reputation and collect the reward money. Clay escapes and takes a woman (Felicia Farr) hostage until he can prove his innocence.