John Mason (John Wayne) suffers a cruel homecoming when he witnesses his father's murder as he rides into town. Incensed, he chases after the killers, but he suffers a gunshot wound that cuts his pursuit short. Alice Gordon (Marion Burns) sees to his injury, and Mason is taken by her kindness and beauty. But things turn sour when her beau, Ben (Reed Howes), becomes jealous. After Mason discovers the men who killed his father, his plan for a duel is sabotaged by Ben, who has been manipulated.