An incident involving a black man who is holed up in a shack with his native American woman escalates after the man is killed by the town constable, a Mexican who had served in the US Cavalry chasing Apaches. Thus opens the film and sets the stage for the story of Valdez, the constable, who after killing the innocent man tries to set up a collection for his woman and runs into violent reaction from the wealthy, racist white rancher who wanted the man killed in the first place, and who runs roughshod over his own men, the Mexicans who hired out to him. The black man, the Native American woman, the Mexicans, the Anglos, and then the rancher's not so faithful mistress, give this movie a lot of great subplots to think about, but the central story of Valdez first asking and then demanding money for the dead man's woman is simple yet effective as it draws out into chases and ambushes while revealing the characters for who they really are.