 While passing through the town of Bannock, a bunch of drunken, trail-weary cattlemen go overboard with their celebrating and accidentally kill an old man with a stray shot. They return home to Sabbath unaware of his death. Bannock lawman Jered Maddox later arrives there to arrest everyone involved on a charge of murder. Sabbath is run by land baron Vince Bronson, a benevolent despot, who, upon hearing of the death, offers restitution for the incident. Maddox, however, will not compromise even though small ranchers like Vern Adams are not in a position to desert their responsibilities for a long and protracted trial. Sabbath s marshal, Cotton Ryan, is an aging lawman whose tough reputation rests on a single incident that occurred years before. Ryan admits to being only a shadow of what he once was and no threat to stop Maddox. Maddox confides to Ryan that Bannock s judicial system is weak and corrupt, and while he s doubtful that anyone he brings back will suffer more than the price of a bribe, he will not be deterred in his unrelenting pursuit of his duty. Initially Bronson appears willing to make concessions, but when his oldest friend Harvey Stenbaugh is killed after deliberately picking a fight with Maddox, Bronson digs in his heels with the rest of the town to resist the relentless lawman.