Tom Belman has been drifting west since the end of the civil war, lured by tales of wealth and verdant valleys in the territory beyond the far sierras. In the Texas panhandle, however, close to the Canadian River, his progress is interrupted when his horse is stolen. His pursuit of the young thief leads to an unfriendly reunion with a former soldier in Tom's unit, Lou Currier, who is now sheriff of a small town called Ortega Point. A subsequent lynching compels Tom to find and return to her home an unknown girl who is also being sought by Currier's posse. But the girl is not easily dissuaded from her investigation into the affairs of businessman Andrew Willis and when she returns to Ortega Point she puts herself and Tom Belman into a deadly situation.