City Marshal Mathew Duncan of Campbellton, Georgia (c1871) enforces the law and protects the town from the influx of "freed men" from the North during the Reconstruction years. He falls in love with a mysterious handsome woman (Margaret Selman), and takes on a son (Jody Braswell) who is adopted after the boy's mother dies. The trio, along with several colorful characters, join the crew constructing a new telegraph line from Campbellton to Fairburn. Along the way they encounter freed men who attempt to hold up the crew, and other lawless travelers. The National Bank of Atlanta is robbed and the perpetrators make the mistake of heading southwest to Campbellton. The misfit posse of Mathew, Margaret, Jody, and an old one-eyed Mexican War veteran armed with a Whitworth take them on in a bend of the Chattahoochee River.