Recently rescued from an Indian ambush, laconic Southern loner Owen Pentecost (Robert Stack) rides into town and into the hearts of saloon girl Boston (Ruth Roman) and frontier entrepreneur Ann Merry (Virginia Mayo). With Boston's aid, Owen wins the deed to the local saloon in a card game against its menacing card-cheat owner, Jumbo Means (Raymond Burr). With secession causing tensions to rise between Denver's Northerner majority and Southerner minority, Owen is pressured to support his Confederate brothers, but he remains firmly committed to his one true cause: gold. And there's two million dollars' worth of it that needs to be smuggled out before the start of the war.