Fugitive James "Stretch" Dawson (Gregory Peck) and his ring of bandits hide out in a town that has been deserted by its entire population, except for a young woman named Mike (Anne Baxter) and her grandfather. When Dude (Richard Widmark), the cruelest thug in the gang, learns from the two locals that there is gold nearby, he devises a scheme to knock off Mike and her grandpa, then gets his cohorts to go along with the plan. Stretch refuses, which leads to a violent power struggle.