Rodeo star John Scott (John Wayne) and his gambler friend Kansas Charlie (Eddy Chandler) are wrongly accused of armed robbery at the Rattlesnake Gulch rodeo (with an admission price of $1) just after John Scott gets his rodeo prize money. The Rodeo Official is robbed and murdered by Pete (Al Ferguson) and Jim (Paul Fix) a minute after Scott and Kansas Charlie leave. Pete tells authorities he just saw John and his friend Kansas Charlie leaving the office. Now fugitives, John and Charlie flee to another town where they assume new names. There they compete for the affections of a woman who runs a store, Jim's sister Anne Whitaker (Mary Kornman). Later, John and Charlie interrupt a stagecoach holdup by Pete and Jim. But after John brings the stagecoach and its passengers back to town, Pete shows up and fingers them for the crime. John and Charlie find themselves in jail. Jim, knowing they are innocent and feeling guilty for his part in the crimes, helps bust them out. John and Charlie head after Pete to try to get a confession, with a posse riding hard behind them.