At a sprawling Texas ranch, a mysterious young man nicknamed Cooncat (John Barrymore Jr.) tells rancher Horse Davis (Basil Ruysdael) an improbable story about a murder at a nearby trading post. His descriptions of the men he believes committed the crime, Smiling Man (Jack Elam) and Roper (Dave Kashner), fit those of two members of a rival family who were killed during a land fight years earlier. Another shooting draws Horse’s future son-in-law, Pat Farrell (John Archer), into the mystery.