Great gambler Sam Whiskey (Burt Reynolds) has got his hands on a heist job that's pretty outrageous, even by Wild West standards. A drop-dead-gorgeous woman (Angie Dickinson) wants to quietly give back the gold her husband had stolen, now that he's dead. She approaches Sam to retrieve the gold from the bottom of a river and smuggle it back into the mint. The widow's beauty, and the nice sum she promises him, leave Sam powerless to resist the preposterous proposal.