Latigo Smith (James Garner) is a charlatan traveling through the West with his wealthy fiancée, Goldie (Marie Windsor). Unhappy with his relationship, he flees away from Goldie at the train stop in Purgatory, Colorado. The town is led by two rival miners, Taylor Barton (Harry Morgan) and Colonel Ames (John Dehner), who are competing against each other to find gold. New in town, Latigo begins drinking and gambling only to lose all his money. Desperate for funds, he hears about famous gunslinger Swiftie Morgan coming to town. Latigo convinces town drunk, Jug May (Jack Elam), to impersonate the gunslinger. Drawing the favor of Taylor and his daughter Patience (Suzanne Pleshette) in the fake gun battle, Colonel Ames is outraged and sends a telegram off the real gunslinger telling him of the ruse. When the real Swiftie (Chuck Connors) shows up, he challenges Latigo to a gun battle whose stakes are higher than Latigo expected.