On the trail of four wanted men, Sherman Dahl, the hired gun known as the Teacher, finds his prey in the town of Kindred, New Mexico Territory. He kills all four in a saloon gunfight that leaves him wounded and in the care of soiled dove Sara Cayes. Marshal Emerson Kern was hired to keep the peace in Kindred, and he doesn't want Dahl's kind in his town. His "gun law" forbids folks from carrying firearms, but Kern's edict is far fro altruistic. No one can stop Kern and his "deputies" -- the only armed men in town -- from extorting every cent the townsfolk earn. No one except Sherman Dahl.