Jack Rogan decides to return home from years of gambling on the Mississippi riverboats, but he makes a big mistake when taking what he thinks is a shorter, faster route back to Texas. The Louisiana swamplands are teeming with all sorts of dangers, not least Gaston Savoy and Homer Lamb, and their kin from the secluded waterside community of Whistler. Captured and stripped of his money, his guns and his fine sorrel mare, Jack is compromised into making a deal with his captors. Meanwhile, a faction of corrupt businessmen decides to make a move on the valuable timber that spreads throughout bayou country. When they hire professional gunmen, Jack discovers the main reason for his capture; and learns just what is expected of him.