Frank Eagle escapes from the prison where Chief Marshal Simon Fry had sent him. His goal is to prove to the Marshal that he is more than just an ordinary gunslinger. To accomplish this, he plans to challenge Simon's deputy, Clay McCord, in a contest of endurance. 

Clay investigates the land-grabbing lawyer who murdered his father. The guy who killed Clay's father in a firefight twelve years ago reappears in Silver City and demands that the deputy serve eviction notices on properties with incorrectly filed titles.