Day of the Gun plot
After a local anniversary celebration, some ranchers' cattle have disappeared. Cyrus McCall's affluent Big Sky Ranch also has to deal with this mysterious disappearance. He is convinced that his livestock is on the property of the widow Maggie Carter and, although he is not sure if she has stolen it, he puts fencing around his own land so that his cattle cannot run away so easily again. Maggie enlists her son Ned when she notices that her land is partially fenced off. Ned, who is in love with McCall's daughter Cy, must avoid a so-called 'range' war.