A stranger named Lee Barton rides into the western town of Rainbow Valley where he's mistaken for a former resident named Ward Cluster who was believed killed in the Civil War. Cluster's wife Rose is now dead but his young son Sean--raised by Indian chief Gray Bear--also believes Barton to be his father. Barton soon finds himself in opposition to local boss Tom Cherry who used local Indians to drive off settlers, then turned against the Indians. Cherry is "sweet" on blonde townswoman Deborah but Deborah loves a drunken man named Ive. Cherry seeks to find $200,000 stashed away by a Mexican general and during the course of his hunt captures and flogs Barton and then kills both Deborah and Ive. Barton, having joined forces with a wandering sheriff from Tucson, kills Cherry in a shoot-out, finds the missing money, and plans a future with adopted son Sean.