Jeff Toland, a young lawyer looking for a place to hang his shingle, is undecided whether to settle down in Ivestown or East Ivestown. A toss of the coin points him in the direction of Ivestown, where he is met by a group of vigilantes led by Les Harper and warned to leave. Doc Denton, the town drunk, takes a liking to Jeff and tells him the history of the Ivestown vigilantes: Henry Ives, the original leader of the vigilantes and founder of the town, established the group to maintain law and order, but his brother-in-law Harper, formed his own splinter group of unscrupulous men who have no use for the law. When the railroad comes to the territory, Ives considers Jeff's suggestion to disband the vigilantes in favor of an organized law force, but Harper opposes the change and destroys Jeff's office. Jeff refuses to leave town, however, and accompanied by Ives's daughter Helen, he rides to the poorer community of East Ivestown, where he learns that the populace is being terrorized by the committee. Meanwhile, Harper has begun buying up the main street of Ivestown in hopes of making a profit if the railroad is built through town. When he learns that the tracks are to run through East Ivestown instead, he gathers his masked vigilantes and begins to seize property along the railway. Jeff follows and disperses the vigilantes after a shootout at the Barton general store, where he finds an ornament from Harper's belt, implicating him in the violence. Jeff then warns Ives about the vigilante activities, prompting Ives to call a meeting to disband the group. Before he can act, however, Harper's men kill him. In town, Harper takes control of the meeting and urges the men to seize East Ivestown. Jeff rides to warn the people of the town, who elect him sheriff. When Harper rides into town, Jeff arrests him, but he escapes and rides back to Ivestown. Jeff follows, and in a shootout with Harper and his gang, a wounded Jeff kills Harper. With the legion of the lawless disbanded, Jeff becomes sheriff of Ivestown and marries Ellen.