As Johnny Flagg, a roving cowboy, travels toward Oro Grande, to settle a homestead, he runs off a gang of ruffians who are attacking some homesteaders. During a meeting of the Oro Grande Cattlemen's Association, the disreputable Bar Munro is forced to resign because he wants to use force to keep the homesteaders from occupying the land he and the other landowners are leasing. Later, in the saloon, Johnny rejects Munro's request to join his gang. As Johnny rides along the outskirts of town, he encounters Barbara McGrail and her little brother Jimmy, who are trying to repair their wagon. Johnny stops to help Barbara but is interrupted by Munro's men, one of whom, Salty Smith, slips Johnny a gun so that he can defend Barbara and Jimmy. Barbara informs Johnny that she suspects Munro of murdering her father in order to obtain his land. After Barbara tells Johnny that Salty is her uncle, she adds that she intends to regain control of her father's property. When Munro learns that Salty plans to turn him over to the sheriff, Munro orders Salty shot. Harvey Campbell, the head of the Cattlemen's Association, sends Johnny a note in which he states that he will join the homesteaders in the fight against Munro's gang. When Munro learns this, he has Campbell murdered and frames Johnny for the crime. He then turns the cattlemen against Johnny and the homesteaders. Meanwhile, the recovering Salty proves Johnny's innocence to the sheriff, and Johnny shows the angry cattlemen the note Campbell sent him before his death. Released from jail, Johnny offers Munro a choice: arrest for the murder of Barbara's father or a shootout. Munro draws but is too slow and Johnny kills him. Later, Jimmy informs Barbara that she will need a husband to file her land claim.