On a horseback journey across the American prairie to reunite with his wife, store clerk Farley Deeds builds a campfire for the night. He is joined by Morrison, an African-American bounty hunter carrying the body of a wanted murderer to a town in the South. The two men are opposites: Deeds is a well-dressed, bespectacled young gentleman, while Morrison is a crusty mountain man wearing animal skins. Morrison tells Deeds that a man must be dressed for the desert, because nights can be bitter cold. He recalls how he survived a freezing night by gutting a buffalo and climbing inside its still-warm body. Morrison asks the “city boy” what kind of campfire story he wants to hear, and Farley Deeds answers, “a horror story.” Morrison begins his tale by saying that Indians once protected their burial grounds. An old white man named Lee Colby takes a shortcut through an Indian cemetery, where skeletons and rotting bodies are laid out on funeral biers made of blankets and sticks. Colby curses the Indians as he rides. When he comes upon an old chief who is still alive, Colby stops and approaches him. The chief gestures for him to lean closer, but instead of whispering, the Indian bites off part of Colby’s ear. Colby laughs and rides on until sunset. Hearing drums nearby, he stops, makes camp, and falls into a deep slumber. Indian children from a nearby village steal his provisions and saddle, then build a canopy over his sleeping body with sticks and branches. They slather mud over the canopy and pour dirt on top of the mud, creating a mound that seals Lee Colby inside. The morning heat, as well as the footsteps of children above, awaken him. Lighting a match, Colby realizes he is trapped in a tomb. Farley Deeds likes Morrison’s story, but asks why he told it. He offers the bounty hunter a cup of coffee, challenging him to tell another. Morrison’s next story is about a young store clerk named Tom Woodby, who, like Farley Deeds, is riding home to see his wife. He overtakes a young pregnant woman named Jenny Turberville walking along the trail. Tom stops, offers to let her join him for protection, and builds a campfire. She admits she is traveling because people in the last town spurned her as an indecent woman. During the night, a strange noise awakens him. Lying nearby, Jenny confesses she told Tom she was pregnant because he would be less likely to hurt her, but now she can see Tom is a “good man,” not like “the others.” She seduces him, and as they make love, her vagina sucks his body inside her. Pregnant again, Jenny gathers Tom’s belongings and begins walking. Disgusted, Farley Deeds calls the story “sick,” but Morrison chides him for being aroused. Farley Deeds claims to have a better story about a family moving west in a covered wagon, hoping to start a new life near a town much like the one they left behind. Arthur Hinton shows his wife, Maureen, and teenage stepdaughter, Eva, their new homestead, which encompasses a square mile. Eva asks whether they will build their new house under a big shade tree or on top of a hill. Maureen thanks Arthur for being a “good man” who was willing to marry an unmarried woman with a child. As Maureen sets a dinner table next to their wagon, Eva imagines what her bedroom will be like. Maureen hopes the family has enough money and provisions, but Arthur assures her that with the help of nearby townspeople, everything will be okay. They hear horses. Four men from town appear and call to Arthur to join them. Maureen objects, telling Arthur it would be wrong. One of the horsemen tells Arthur to catch up with them after he settles his wife down, and the four ride away. During an argument, Arthur slaps Maureen and leaves. Later that night, Eva awakens and walks off toward where she last saw her stepfather. She approaches a flaming tree surrounded by several men. The bodies of a man, a woman, and a child hang from the tree, as Arthur Hinton hits them with a board. Eva screams and runs home to her mother. When she returns to camp, her stepfather is already there. He explains to Eva that the victims were bad people, but Eva fends off his attempt to embrace her. Maureen fires a warning shot to end their struggle and tells Arthur to go inside the tent. Alone with Eva, she tries to convince her that Arthur is not a bad man like the others. He was willing to marry her when other men turned away, and for that reason she cannot stop loving him. The next morning, Eva is silent during breakfast. Later, as the family rides into town, Eva sees a girl’s white bonnet lying beside the road. Asking her stepfather to stop, she picks up the bonnet and ties it on her head. Eva tells Arthur, “I love you, Pa.” He replies that he loves her, too, and assures her they will make this new place a beautiful home. Morrison likes Farley Deeds’s story, but fortified with a few drinks of whiskey feels he has to “top it” with a better one. Wealthy landowner Bill Horn challenges local gunfighters to vie for the privilege of being his “hired gun.” Miguel Colochez has already outdrawn and killed two men. As Horn’s ranch hand, Bluey, drags off the second victim, Sheriff Dr. Francis Leaderman complains to Horn about holding bloody shootouts on the main street. Horn brushes aside Leaderman’s complaints, explaining that the men were willing to fight, because as Horn’s enforcer, the winner would be a local “king.” The only gunfighter left is Martin Lough, known as the “best gun” in the territory. At a hotel, the fastidious Lough dresses in his best suit and cleans his pistol. On the street, he faces off against Colochez. According to the rules, each has only one bullet. When they draw, Lough shoots Colochez in the neck but does not kill him. The wounded man clutches his throat, runs at Lough, and tackles him. They fight until Colochez collapses. Horn congratulates the bloody Lough and invites him to stay at his ranch, so they can sign a contract in the morning, but Lough insists on spending the night in the hotel. He beds down with a saloon girl named Sarah. That night, Lough has a nightmare about Colochez, and awakens in the morning with blood on his hands and on the sheets. When Sarah apologizes for having her monthly “curse,” he throws her out of the room. As Lough washes up, Horn’s man, Bluey, knocks on the door and tells him he is late for the signing. Lough insists on shaving first, but as he scrapes the strait razor under his jaw, he sees Colochez behind him, guiding his shaving hand. Hearing a yell, Bluey opens the door and finds Lough’s body in the empty room with his throat cut. As day breaks, Farley Deeds is angry that Morrison kept him up all night. As they saddle up, Morrison proudly shows Deeds the wanted poster for killer Alvin Raymer, the man slung over Morrison’s second horse. Morrison reads off the man’s description, including missing fingers, but Deeds notices that the corpse has all its fingers. Looking again at the wanted poster, Morrison shrugs and cuts the body loose. It falls to the ground. As Morrison joins Deeds, he admits, “Wasn’t him.”