Captain Matthews is paid 40,000 dollars in cash by Nick Conrad for his shipment of silk from China. About 15 seconds after he gets the cash, he's lured away on a false pretence and robbed by Conrad's henchmen. Newspaper reporter Jerry Mason witnesses the robbery and steals the cash from Conrad.

In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.