As Kiefer, a bounty hunter, takes the body of a man he gunned down to collect the reward, he passes Morgan, a ranch owner, and his African American assistant, Pike, as they herd cattle through town. At the jail, Sheriff Kane complains that Kiefer shot an upstanding citizen who had not committed a crime for over seven years, but Kiefer insists that until a man pays for his crimes he is still an outlaw. Later, Morgan sells his cattle and informs Pike he intends using the money to help the people of Sonora, Mexico, build a respectable, God-fearing town. After telegraphing his wife, Morgan has a heart attack. Before Morgan dies, Pike promises to deliver the money to his wife. Meanwhile, Tyree, an African American gambler, plays cards until a man comes into the saloon and announces that Pike is riding home alone with Morgan’s $86,000. During the commotion Tyree kicks over a leather bag containing a rattlesnake. As the men jump up and shoot the snake, Tyree takes a card from his vest and wins the card game. Later, as Pike fills his canteen at a waterhole, five men appear and demand the money. Pike guns down three of the men, then takes refuge behind a boulder. Tyree arrives on horseback, and dumps a sack full of snakes down the hill, causing the two remaining men to panic. As they leap up, Pike shoots them. Tyree and Pike agree to protect each other until they get to Mexico, but once they cross the Rio Grande River, the truce is over. As they ride out of the canyon, Kiefer appears, but lets them pass. However, they go only a short distance before four men chase them. Tyree tricks the pursuers into riding off a cliff. The next day, Tyree argues that he and Pike should split the money, because a promise to a white man is not binding. However, Pike declares he gave his word to a “man,” not a “white man.” Hearing screaming, they spot a group of men attacking a covered wagon. The husband is killed, but before the renegades can rape his wife, Kashtok, a half African American-half Indian mute, leaps from a cliff, knocking three of the attackers down. However, Kashtok is pistol whipped by the fourth assailant. Tyree and Pike gun down the attackers. After they bury her husband, Catherine explains they were heading to a small town on the Rio Grande. Pike invites her and Kashtok to travel with him. Later, they make camp and Catherine explains that her husband rescued her from a New Orleans, Louisiana, bordello. During their travels, they found Kashtok dying in the desert after a group of white men had cut out his tongue and Catherine and her husband nursed him back to health. The next day, Kiefer rides into the camp of Halsey, aka the “Deacon,” an ex-Confederate marauder who believes it is God’s will he kill any African American man who does not accept white superiority. Fearing Pike will use the money for a crusade to promote racial equality, Deacon orders his small army to follow Kiefer and presents the bounty hunter with a Gatling gun. Meanwhile, two African American men are cooking supper when Sheriff Kane and his posse ride up and gun them down. After searching for Morgan’s money, they realize they killed the wrong men and continue to search for Pike and Tyree. The next day, Kiefer spots Pike’s group and orders Deacon’s men to give chase. Pike, Catherine and Tyree try to elude them by riding into a canyon, while Kashtok hides and ambushes the riders one by one. Half of Deacon’s army chases Pike into the canyon, while the others shoot from the cliffs. Tyree and Catherine take cover in the rocks. Pike hands Catherine the saddle bag with the money, telling her to hide, but she jumps onto a horse and rides away with the attackers following her. She is almost out of the canyon when the Gatling gun opens up and kills her. As the men stare in horror, a wind blows money into the air and they realize Catherine pretended to steal the cash to lure their attackers into following her. Pike and Tyree retrieve the money, make their way up a cliff, shoot the Deacon and steal the wagon carrying the Gatling gun. As Kiefer and his men give chase, Pike races toward a gorge, unhitches the horses and uses the wagon’s momentum to jump the gap. The wagon shatters on impact and the trio escapes on foot. Days later, Kashtok saves the men from dying in the desert when he leads them to a tiny village where Pike buys two horses from an old Mexican man and a small boy they take to be the man’s grandson. Meanwhile, Sheriff Kane’s group meets up with Kiefer’s. Kane refuses the bounty hunter’s offer to join forces, but when Kiefer agrees to split the money equally, Kane’s men switch sides. That night, the little boy explains to Tyree that his parents are dead and the old man is his employer. He asks to go with Tyree, but the gambler sends him off to bed. Kane appears and knocks Tyree unconscious, then he sneaks up on Pike while he is forging horseshoes. As Kane is about to kill Pike, Kiefer appears and shoots the sheriff dead. Kiefer informs Pike that he knows there is a bounty on his head and is taking him in. Tyree appears and distracts Kiefer long enough for Pike pull his gun. Kiefer holsters his pistol and Pike follows suit, explaining that ten years ago he would have shot the bounty hunter, but now believes that every man deserves a second chance. Kashtok follows Kiefer to his camp, and hears the bounty hunter make a deal with a Mexican outlaw to join forces to capture or kill Pike. The next day, Pike and Tyree cross the Rio Grande and stop at an abandoned prison mining camp, from which Pike escaped ten years ago. Tyree announces their truce is over and the two drop their guns and beat each other with their fists. Their fight is interrupted when Kashtok and the boy arrive to warn that Kiefer and his men are coming. Pike instructs the boy to ride to the Morgan Ranch, give the money to Mrs. Morgan and tell her he promised she would give the boy a home. He orders Kashtok to go with the boy. Pike heads into the abandoned mine and finds two cases of dynamite, but no matches. Tyree appears and offers a light from his cigar. Kiefer spies the boy and Kashtok running off with the money, but ignores them. The Mexican gang leader steps forth and tells Kiefer he is taking over both gangs and orders a frontal assault. As Kiefer watches the men swoop down on the mining camp, Pike lights the dynamite before he and Tyree run deeper into the mine. The blast kills the attackers, causes the tunnel to cave in, and blows out a part of the mountain, sending a torrent of water that carries the two men into the canyon. After watching Pike and Tyree swim to shore, Kiefer rides away, leaving the two men to walk to Morgan’s Ranch.