A young woman heads west to Powder Valley in search of her father—but finds trouble instead William Wilcox could never stand his life in Philadelphia. He adored his wife and their daughter, Joan, but the city strangled him. So he fled west, establishing himself under a false name in the idyllic township of Powder Valley, Colorado. When her mother dies, Joan travels to the Valley in search of the only family she has left. She shows an old photo to the sheriff, Pat Stevens, who recognizes the man in the picture as Bill Freeman, one of the most respected ranchers in the valley. It's a happy moment, but tragedy is not far behind. The day after Joan's arrival, Bill Freeman is found dead. Although she insists he was her father, she has no proof and ends up in a showdown with Bill's adopted son over their inheritance. Unless Pat and his friends Sam and Ezra can settle the matter quietly, the Freeman farm will run with blood.