With the murder of the local marshal, ex-lawman-turned-stagecoach operator, Ben Cutler, (Fred MacMurray) assumes the sheriff's role in order to bring the killer, a handsome and charismatic young man known as the Kid (Robert Vaughn), to justice. Though Ben's posse makes an arrest, from jail the Kid goes to work winning the hearts and minds of the townsfolk, especially Ben's daughter, Laurie (Joan Blackman), and Ruth Granger (Maggie Hayes), an attractive widow that Cutler hopes to marry. Despite the evidence, Cutler cannot convince the locals of the Kid's guilt. But when the ruthless, young outlaw kidnaps Laurie in an effort to escape, it falls to Cutler to track him down before anyone else gets hurt.