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.

Hot-headed Johnny Kaler, embarrassed that he's been caught cheating at cards, provokes Bill Longley into a barroom brawl and is quickly thrashed.

Bill is serving as Marshall of Rio Nada, an area plagued by Mexican bandits who cross the border to raid the countryside; he captures one of the bandits and threatens him with hanging to get the identity of the bandit leader.

Bill is forced to kill one of the Dawson brothers after the man draws on him during a fight; now he must contend with the three other brothers who want revenge.

After Bill turns down a bribe from a landowner to detour the track through his town, the man forces a doctor to quarantine the railroad workers with false claims.