In this typical 1950s Western, cowboy Wes Tancred (Richard Egan) is publicly vilified after killing a famous gunslinger who was a public hero. In fact, the hero was a villain, and Tancred killed him in self-defense, but Tancred is so scorned for his act that there is a mean-spirited ballad sung about him wherever he goes. On the run from his infamy, he comes to the small town of Table Rock and finds that it has been taken over by a gang of outlaws. To redeem his name, Tancred comes to the aid of the besieged Sheriff Miller (Cameron Mitchell). He also takes under his wing the son of a stagecoach operator who has been killed by the gang of outlaws.