Two vagabonds traveling through Medicine Bow appear to have murdered the wife of a local bartender. The residents are upset and afraid the two men may be released due to a lack of proof. The two vagabonds kill the sheriff while trying to escape with a knife they hid. Deputy Sherrif Ryker has to take over and is unable to control the mob threatening the jail led by the husband Ev and his friend Hezekiah. At the urging of his girlfriend Velvet Rose when they threaten to dynamite the front of the jail, Ryker decides to move the prisoners to Laramie. He stops at Shiloh for help where Judge Garth forces the lynch mod to back down for a while. With the help of The Virginian Ryker heads for the Laramie stage but realizes he must face the residents of Medicine Bow if he is have their respect as sheriff in the future.
—Anonymous