The Texan, a Civil War Veteran whose reputation of being the fastest gun in the west precedes him, roams across Texas from town to town, not looking for trouble; trouble finds him.
After acting Marshall Bill decrees that no guns would be allowed on Rio Nada's streets, a casino owner hires two notorious gunmen to kill him.
Bill finds a town engulfed in a feud between two ranchers; he also learns that his former commanding officer is now a doctor who's turned to drinking, and a young man blames him for crippling his arm.
A lynch mob wants to hang a young man convicted of killing a family of homesteaders; Bill rides in with a stay of execution from the governor just as the mob is about to break into the jail; the desperate prisoner escapes.
Bill stops to visit his friend, a well-respected sheriff, only to find that the whole town has turned against him, and he's been jailed for killing an unarmed kid; Bill seeks to discover the real truth.