Former rancher Taw Jackson returns to his hometown to settle a score with corrupt businessman Frank Pierce; three years earlier, Pierce had wrongfully imprisoned and appropriated his land, including his house and some recently discovered gold deposits. John Wayne plays Taw Jackson, who plans to steal an upcoming $500,000 shipment of gold dust from Pierce's "war wagon", an armored stagecoach surrounded by mounted guards. Kirk Douglas stars as Lomax, a gunslinger and safecracker recruited by Jackson for the heist.