Duke Mason, a US marshal, and his friend Joe O'Brian, a Texas ranger, are enjoying cowboy games on Independence Day in Cimarron when they are suddenly caught unawares by a band of outlaws. They take them with detrimental results. This is the day when their lives change forever. The ruthless Moryson brothers and their gang of cold-blooded outlaws arrive, shooting up the burg, killing the innocent, and defiling some of the womenfolk, including Joe's girl Becky. Along with a brutal half-blood, Comanche-Mexican called Raza, they leave the lawmen for dead. The two lawmen, one duty-bound by the code of law, the other crazed with rage and skirting on the edge of the law, hit the trail in search of the gang. Join Duke and his companions, who are protected by the lethal bylaw of Texas, on their adventures-filled with murder, mayhem, a bit of sorrow, and a laugh or two-as they hunt for the Moryson Gang. Along the way, they encounter other lawmen, outlaws, painted ladies, and a deadeye.