While searching for his long-lost brother Jim, who was kidnapped as a baby after his father was murdered by an unseen gunman, cowboy Ted Hayden and his companion Dusty Rhodes discover outlaw Gat Ganns dying from contaminated water. In Ganns's clothes, Ted finds a sinister letter of introduction, which is addressed to Gentry, the man who bought the Hayden ranch after his father's murder. Convinced that Gentry is connected to his father's killer, Ted, who resembles Ganns, assumes the outlaw's identity. In the meantime, Gentry, who has been unsuccessful at persuading his neighbor, Winter, to sell him his ranch, sends two of his men to steal $3,000 from Winter's daughter Fay as she rides into town. On the way to Gentry's ranch, Ted and Dusty stumble on Fay, who has been accidentally shot in the head by Gentry's men. After Ted and Dusty deliver Fay to the town doctor, Dusty deposits her money, while Ted finds Gentry and, posing as Ganns, agrees to kill Winter. While at Gentry's ranch, Ted meets "Spuds," an abused twelve-year-old boy, and later saves him when he loses control of his excitable horses. That night, as Ted and Dusty are about to kill Winter, Ted throws a rock with a warning note to Fay, and although Winter's cattle are stolen, his life is spared. Still determined, Gentry orders Ted to go to Winter's ranch the next day, offer to retrieve his stolen cattle and then kill him on the range. Ted, however, explains Gentry's treachery to Winter, but rides back to Gentry to tell him that he has killed Winter. After Gentry promises Ted his pay in the morning, he issues orders for his murder, which are overheard by Spuds. Spuds rides to Winter's ranch to warn Ted and there shows Ted an unopened letter in which Spuds is identified as Jim, Ted's brother, and Gentry, as their father's murderer. While Dusty and Winter take Spuds's letter to the sheriff, Ted fights with Gentry. After a fierce fistfight and chase, Gentry is killed by his own men, and Ted is reunited with his brother and an admiring Fay.