Seeking vengeance for his wife's untimely death, grieving widower Comanche Todd (Richard Widmark) hunts down her killers and ushers them into an early grave, a crime for which he's promptly captured. Now, held as a prisoner in one of several wagons moving east toward the next town, Comanche survives an Indian attack and is forced to make a tough choice: look out for himself or help a group of orphaned children stay alive.