Cattle rancher Pat Moore accuses Buck Ward of cheating in a poker game, but when he advises Buck to draw his gun, Buck refuses. When Plunkett, known as "The Wolverine Kid," accuses him of being a coward, Buck hits him and leaves the saloon. At home, Buck's disabled rancher father Bill relates the story of his marriage to Buck's mother, who is now deceased: Pat Moore and the Kid's father had been Bill's rivals, and three months after his wedding, Plunkett, Sr. picked a fight with him. Bill resisted involvement until Plunkett, Sr. insulted his wife, and during the ensuing fight, Plunkett, Sr. was fatally shot, and Bill received a shot to his spine that left him wheelchair-bound. Now both Bill and Buck find the circumstances of the Kid's return to town suspicious, as he works for the rival Maxim Sheep Co., and has enlisted fifteen gunmen to help him. Bill and Buck are convinced the Kid will attempt to drive the cattle ranchers off the range. At the end of their discussion, Bill gives Buck an ivory-handled gun, whose mate belongs to the Kid, and Bill predicts there will be no peace on the range until one man carries both weapons. In the morning, Pat's daughter Paddy defends Buck's honor to Pat, because the Kid, who works on their ranch, is a card sharp, and she believes he intended for Buck to kill her father. As Paddy rides off the ranch, she sees Buck riding toward the ranch and hears gunshots. She finds her father mortally wounded, and accuses Buck of murder, ordering him off the ranch. Buck, however, was attempting to chase the true killer and finds a bullet shell near the barn. At home, Bill identifies the bullet shell as belonging to the other ivory-handled gun, and the sheriff's arrival with the bullet from Pat's body confirms their suspicions that the Kid is Pat's killer. Although the sheriff offers to arrest the Kid, Buck insists on bringing the Kid in himself. While riding on the range with his sidekick, Pike, Buck sees Paddy riding with Steve, another ranch hand, toward Moore's lakeside cabin. Buck arranges to meet Pike at their own cabin and then listens through a window to Paddy's conversation with the ranch hands, in which she counters the Kid's reward of five hundred dollars for whoever brings in Buck, with an offer of one thousand dollars. In the meantime, the Kid meets with Squint Barlow, saloon owner and representative of the sheep concern, who promises to pay him as soon as he has herded their sheep onto the cattle rancher's range. The Kid has set up barbed wire barricades along the pass and has planted men along the borders of the ranch. The men will light emergency signal fires to alert the cattlemen to herd their animals into the pass, at which time the cattle and ranchers will be trapped in the barbed wire and the sheep will be let onto their range. In an effort to find the Kid, Buck and Pike head into town and are met by Squint, who faces off with Buck. Although Buck tells him his argument is not with him, Squint draws his gun and is shot by Buck in self-defense. A gunfight in the saloon ensues, and Buck and Pike manage to force a confession out of one man about the Kid's heinous plans. Buck attempts to light one of the beacons prematurely, but is captured by the Kid's men and held captive in the Moore cabin. Pike tries to light the other signal fire, but is shot at and apparently falls off a cliff. With the beacons lit, the Kid threatens to kill Buck, and takes Paddy hostage after she arrives and reveals that she knows the Kid is responsible for her father's death. With the help of Buck's horse, Silver, Paddy and Buck are freed, and after tying up their guard, Pete, Paddy rushes to warn the cowhands before they ride into the barbed wire. Buck finds Pike barely hanging on to the cliff's ledge, and pulls him to safety. Together, they instigate a gunfight against the sheepmen, and soon, the ranch hands arrive with the sheriff to take up the fight and make arrests. The Kid has escaped the fight and holds Paddy and Bill hostage at the Ward ranch until Buck arrives and tackles him. During the struggle, a shot is fired, and both men slump over. Only the Kid has been killed, however, and Paddy joyfully rushes to Buck's side. Now, two ivory-handled guns reside over the Ward hearth.
