An isolated valley in the remote western regions of Wyoming Territory, far from the reach of law and government, holds a simmering confrontation between pioneer ranchers. Into this cauldron drifts Paul Belmont, an Eastern lawyer with a troubled conscience. Torn between the impulse to help and the wish to get the hell out of there, Belmont is drawn into the dispute just as it surges toward violence. But the more he learns, the more difficult it becomes to tell wrong from right. One brutal killing leads to others until Belmont is in too deep to get out.