Patience is his nature. Revenge is his game. Alan ladd stars in aaron spelling's western about a man on a mission. After his home is burned to the ground by yankees at the end of the civil war, impoverished mitch ladd and his very pregnant wife take to the road in their wagon. His wife begins to feel unwell and mitch hurriedly drives to the nearest frontier town for medical treatment. Met with indifference and lack of compassion he is unable to pay for the medicine prescribed and his wife dies. Consumed with guilt, the townspeople offer ladd the job of deputy sheriff and as the years pass, he finds himself a respected member of the peaceful community. On the surface he is a model citizen, but he festers with the memory of his tragic loss, and he hatches a plan for revenge, to bring the town to its knees...