Nevada (Gary Cooper) has orders to protect a rancher's daughter, Thelma (Thelma Todd), but it makes the crooked foreman (William Powell) of the ranch jealous. The foreman tells the sheriff that Nevada is a wanted man, forcing him to go on the run. As he flees from a hangman's noose, he stumbles upon a gang of cattle rustlers led by the crook. He does the right thing and finds the sheriff, helping him bust the gang, earning him absolution and Thelma's hand in marriage.