Wyoming homesteaders are peaceably working their farms when a cattle baron decides to confiscate their land. The locals fight back under the leadership of Van Heflin, but when feared gun thug Jack Palance is hired to target Heflin the farmers begin to unravel. Just then Shane rides up to the homestead looking for a job. Heflin’s young son Joey idolizes the stranger and sees him as a mythic hero. But is Shane just another hired gun?