Outlaw Caleb Ollinger has no idea how much outrage he will stir after stopping off in the New Mexico town of Carrizozo. A few drinks and a game of poker suddenly turn into a double killing – the gambler who has been caught cheating matters little – but an innocent boy plowed down by Ollinger was the son of New Mexico's territorial governor. Bounty hunter Chance Newcombe is hired to bring the killer in, but the loner has an ulterior motive. Chance attempts to lure Caleb's brother, Pake, into the picture, under the pretense that they will be rescuing the wayward kid. Chance comes across an old comrade at a relay station is also after Caleb, so as to secure an amnesty granted by the governor which wipes out his past crimes. Bullets are bound to fly when the disparate protagonists finally meet up at the Hanging Tree.