Six years after the railroad puts Dodge City, Kansas, on the map, the town becomes the Babylon of the West. Run by Jeff Surrett, a man whose only interest is cash and killing, Dodge City is now a bastion of lawlessness. When Wade Hatton, accompanied by his sidekicks, Rusty Hart and Tex Baird, rides into town to sell his Texas cattle, Wade meets Surrett, an old enemy from his railroad days, and refuses to sell his cattle to him. Wade learns that there is no law after his cattle buyer is shot in the back by one of Surrett's men, but although the people of Dodge appeal to him to accept the mantle of sheriff, Wade refuses. It is only after Mrs. Cole's little boy is killed by wanton gunplay in the streets that he reconsiders and pins on the badge of the law. Wade and his men undertake a campaign to clean up the town, and when newspaperman Joe Clemens uncovers evidence that would convict Surrett of crooked cattle dealing, the age of lawlessness appears to be at an end. However, after Joe is killed before he can publish his story, the only person who can put Surrett behind bars is Abbie Irving, the doctor's niece. Because Wade is in love with Abbie, he arranges for her to leave town for safety. Meanwhile, Wade arrests Surrett's henchman, Yancey, for the shooting of Joe, and when his prisoner is threatened by a lynch mob, Wade takes him aboard the same train on which Abbie is traveling. Once the train is out of town, Surrett and his men come aboard and lock Rusty, Abbie and Wade in a burning railroad car. During a daring escape, Wade and Rusty kill Surrett and his gang, and now that peace has come to Dodge City, Wade and Abbie set out to tame Virginia City.