The sheriff of a small town in southwest Texas must keep custody of a murderer whose brother, a powerful rancher, is trying to help him escape. After a friend is killed trying to muster support for him, he and his deputies a disgraced drunk and a cantankerous old cripple must find a way to hold out against the ranchers hired guns until the marshal arrives. In the meantime, matters are complicated by the presence of a young gunslinger and a mysterious beauty who just came in on the last stagecoach.