Two cattle men are in a battle for control of the valley near the small town of Lone Oak, Texas. In their quest for power they bring in gunmen and thugs, the kind of trash no one else would hire. After both ranchers are killed in gunfights the thugs find themselves in control, with no wages being paid out they do that they do best murder, rob, and steal. Joe a drifting ex-cavalry officer trying to outrun the memories of his past and the reputation of a gunfighter, finds himself trapped, held captive by the one thing he was not looking for, the love of a woman