When Johnny Clinton saves Matt Holbrook from a hanging party he sparks off a series of events which test their friendship, and unearths a plot to seize the Running W and Circle C. The situation is complicated further by the arrival of a family of homesteaders, tired of being moved on by cattlemen and determined this time to stay put at Elk River. Johnny rides a thin line when loyalties are tested as cattlemen and homesteaders unite to combat the threat which stalks the land at Elk River.