Rancher Jameson (Shepperd Strudwick) takes a shine to outlaw Billy the Kid (Audie Murphy) and gives him a job as a hired hand. But trouble follows Billy everywhere, and, when thugs working for a rival rancher kill Jameson in an ambush, the young gunslinger decides to take out every man responsible for his boss's death. Over the next two years, Billy guns down the culprits one by one, always staying just out of the law's reach -- until Sheriff Pat Garrett (Frank Wilcox) catches up with him.