In the Wild West, the Rawhide way station becomes the center of a hostage situation when four murderous fugitives (Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger, Jack Elam, George Tobias) take it over in a heist scheme. After killing the stationmaster (Tyrone Power), the criminals keep the only other employee, Sam Todd (Edgar Buchanan), alive to avoid outside suspicion by maintaining a front of normalcy. But Todd and the other hostages, Vinnie Holt (Susan Hayward) and her young niece, plot to make an escape.