In 1861, Rusty Shannon rides out from the family homestead to join a company of Texas volunteers dedicated to protecting settlers against Indian raids, but he carries a heavy burden. Twenty years ago his family was killed by a Comanche war party; now Mike Shannon, the only family Rusty has known, has been bushwhacked and murdered, and the father and brother of the woman he loves have been lynched. Yet Rusty is determined to take up his adoptive father's work as a Texas Ranger even though his duties as a ranger conflict with his sense of justice.