Brazos Kane (Randolph Scott) is the tight-lipped gunfighter who arrives without guns to his old friend Bob Tyrell’s ranch, only to find him shot dead by a gang of five. When he reports the murder to the neighboring big-spread ranch, cattle baron Mr. Banner (Griff Barnett) treats him as an intruder and he’s arrested by the crooked deputy Bill Yount (Grant Withers). While he’s taken to town the posse stops off on a lonely stretch of land to hang him, but he’s saved by old-timer rancher Inskip (Charley Grapewin); he’s Bob’s friend, who somehow found the spot of the hanging after Brazos got word to him. Within seconds you know that Banner was responsible for the killing, and it was carried out by his ruthless foreman Bard Mackey (Bruce Cabot). Banner has two eligible pretty daughters, the good one Jane (Dorothy Hart) and the bad one Bess (Barbara Britton). Bess is in love with the baddie Bard, and knows and doesn’t seem to mind her dad built his empire by rustling and taking over the homesteads by force of the small ranchers within a 100-mile radius. The do-nothing sheriff, Kiscaden (Charles Kemper), is also on Banner’s payroll. As expected, Brazos will eventually wear his six guns to avenge the death of his friend.