Bill is serving as Marshall of Rio Nada, an area plagued by Mexican bandits who cross the border to raid the countryside; he captures one of the bandits and threatens him with hanging to get the identity of the bandit leader.
Bill is forced to kill one of the Dawson brothers after the man draws on him during a fight; now he must contend with the three other brothers who want revenge.
After Bill turns down a bribe from a landowner to detour the track through his town, the man forces a doctor to quarantine the railroad workers with false claims.
Frank Leslie returns from prison to marry the widow of the man he killed; the dead man's brothers plan to exact their own form of justice, even though Sheriff Hollister has ordered them to get out of town by sundown.
Three cousins who've inherited pieces of a treasure map from their late uncle hire Bat to lead them to the place they believe the money has been hidden.
President Hayes and General Sherman are scheduled to make a stop in Dodge City, and Bat takes on the task of protecting the general during the election stop.
Bill finds an old prospector almost dead from thirst and brings him to the railroad workers' camp; men from a rival outfit talk the old man into spreading a story about finding gold, hoping to lure workers away from their jobs.
A group of convicts take over the work train and hold the entire construction crew hostage; Bill, who the convicts believe is dead, makes it back to the site and tries to stop them.
Rancher Lee Hackett (Van Heflin) spends so much time trying to keep the violent streak of his son Ed (Tab Hunter) in check, he neglects the needs of his other son Davy (James Darren). When Ed's temper results in the death of an innocent Native American, Lee tries his best to cover his son's tracks by making a deal with unscrupulous horse trader Jensen (Ray Teal), who falsely testifies on Ed's behalf. But it becomes clear that Ed can't change, and a shootout between father and son ensues.
After fighting for the Union during the Civil War, Luke Fargo (Van Heflin) is greeted with resentment when he returns home to his small southern town. Luke has a reputation as a rogue, but he's reinvented himself as a man of God and plans to fix up the town's damaged church. Recalling their romantic past, Georgina Decrais (Allison Hayes) tries to reclaim Luke. But, to the dismay of some suspicious townspeople, he concentrates on mentoring an unsophisticated young woman, Lissy (Joanne Woodward).