Unlucky gambler Corrigan O'Kelley owes everyone money and so, when Denver Fetterman calls in his debt, his only option is to flee. Corrigan offers his services as guide to a wagon train of settlers heading to an area known as the Land of Lost Dreams, but Fetterman won't let him avoid his problems.

To repay his debts Corrigan must lead the settlers through Hangman's Gulch where the gunslinger Eleazer Fremont is to ambush them and, to make sure he doesn't renege, Fetterman's stalwart debt collector, Chuck Cartwright, will go with him.

Corrigan accepts Fetterman's ultimatum reluctantly, but when he sides with the settlers, he vows to defy him. With Cartwright watching his every move and Eleazer closing in, only hot lead can solve Corrigan's deadly dilemma.