In 1870s America, a peaceful Danish settler named Jon and his brother Peter await Jon’s wife and ten-year-old son who have just arrived in country. Peter stays behind while the family boards a stagecoach bound for their small town. The stagecoach is also boarded by two degenerate criminals, recently released from jail. After a tense struggle they manage to throw Jon out of the coach while still in motion and then rape his wife, eventually killing her and the young child. Jon, a former soldier and skilled rifleman, catches up to the stopped coach and quickly disposes of his family's murderers. This unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader and land baron, former cavalry officer Colonel De La Rue who demands to know the identity of the man who killed his brother. He murders innocent townspeople as a means of terrorizing the citizens into locating & capturing Jon.
De La Rue and his now widowed (and mute) sister in-law Madelaine have been working to acquire the town & surrounding property to sell for a large profit due to its proximity to an untapped oil supply. Madalaine, who suffers physical abuse from De La Rue, makes a failed attempt to escape with the cash already provided by the oil company executives. Meanwhile, Jon’s cowardly fellow townspeople betray him and deliver him to De La Rue who plans to torture & kill him slowly. Jon is rescued in the night by his brother Peter who eventually dies after leading the gang away from him. With the help of another widowed settler Jon recovers from his wounds, then arms himself and battles the outlaws with the help of Voichek, the young storekeeper.
The gang falls one at a time and Voichek is ultimately killed after inadvertently setting fire to the hotel where Madelaine is being held, enabling her to escape. De La Rue finds and wounds Jon. Before he is able to kill Jon, Madelaine shoots De La Rue twice herself. Jon finishes him with a shot to the head. The sheriff and his men arrive to thank Jon and arrest Madelaine but Jon orders them to leave the area and states that he will be taking her with him. In the final shot, the scene fast-forwards to reveal that the land is ultimately taken over by the oil company, with several tower pumping units standing over the empty ruins of the town.