Federal marshal Len Merrick and two deputies rescue cattle rustler Tim "Pop" Keith from a lynch mob headed by rancher Ned Roden, whose eldest son has been fatally shot in the back. Roden believes that the perpetrator was Pop, but Merrick insists on taking him to Santa Loma to stand trial. Others in the mob accede to Merrick's decision, but Roden vows to administer his own kind ...