In 1846, a reporter for the New York Herald joins a wagon train bound for the Oregon Territory. He hopes to confirm a rumor that President Polk is sending in soldiers disguised as settlers in order to strengthen American claims to the Territory.

A Los Angeles teacher becomes a mob target when he agrees to be a star witness in a gangland murder case.

Bounty hunter Luke Welsh arrives looking for a wanted man. When that man draws on him he has to kill him. To collect his reward he needs a statement identifying him. But the man was well liked in town and no one will sign such a statement. When he outdraws another man who thought he was faster, some townsmen decide he should be killed and they organize a mob to go after him.