A drifter helps a ranch couple fend off the approaches of a ruthless landowner.
A laconic drifter, who calls himself Nebraska, is hired as a ranch hand by Marthy Hillman and his wife Kay who are under pressure from a ruthless landowner, named Bill Carson, who extorts money from the ranchers. When Carson sets his sights on Kay, Nebraska eventually decides not to stay out of it and plans to save Hillman from Carson's men and rescue Kay.—Anonymous
Quick with a gun, the mysterious drifter who calls himself Nebraska sets foot on Marthy Hillmann's ranch. Without a second thought, knowing that he could put Nebraska's skills to good use, Hillmann hires him to lend a hand in the cattle farm, and above all, help him fight his cunning and ruthless arch-enemy, Bill Carter, who tries hard to squeeze out the other ranchers. Then, a man ends up dead, and with Sheriff Bert unable or unwilling to do his job, Nebraska decides to pick sides. Will the gunman called Nebraska discover the truth behind the long-standing feud between Hillman and Carter, and restore peace?—Nick Riganas
New Mexico, 1866. A man riding alone on horseback is gunned down by several gunmen. The man is revealed to be Donato, one of Marty Hillmann's ranch hands.
Soon after the opening killing, a laconic drifter (Ken Clark) arrives at the remote Hillmann ranch where he asks the owner Marty Hillmann (Alfonso Rojas) if there is any work. Introducing himself as Nebraska, the drifter subsequently impresses Hillmann with a display of gun fighting. Hillmann determines that Nebraska is the kind of man he needs on the ranch, and so he hires him to do odd jobs. A little later, Nebraska meets Hillmans beautiful young wife Kay (Yvonne Bastien), and they are clearly attracted to each other. However, Nebraska is devoted to his employer and he rejects Kay's advances.
Meanwhile, a criminal named Bill Carter (Piero Lulli) is established as the villain of this story. Carter basically controls the entire nearby town with help of hired thugs, and he is determined to kill Hillmann and take Kay as his lover. Finding Donato's dead body, Hillmans first though is to blindly rush off and kill Carter, whom he knows to be responsible for the crime. However, Nebraska urges Hillmann caution because Carter will be waiting for him. Nebraska suggests that they wait and plan things out. Hillmann agrees and both he and Nebraska ride into town to report the incident to Burt, the local sheriff who has been disgraced by his alcoholism. Using the fact that Carter's men have stolen Donato's horse as evidence, Burt puts the two men who killed Donato in jail, all the while knowing that he is endangering his own life by opposing Carter.
Later that night, as they ride home to the ranch together, Hillmann and Nebraska become good friends as they talk about their lives and how Nebraska ended up as a drifter. Hillmann is impressed by Nebraskas intelligence and resourcefulness, and promises to be loyal to him. At that moment, Hillmann is shot by an unseen assailant. The assailant is none other that Bill Carter himself. But the need to get his wounded friend back to the ranch prevents Nebraska from going after the culprit.
The next morning, Carter's men are set free when another one of Carters men arrives at the jail with bail money for them. When Burt uncovers some evidence against them, he is shot and killed. Meanwhile, Nebraska leaves the ranch to look for Burt, unaware that the sheriff has been killed. Taking advantage of Nebraska's absence, Carter and his men show up at the Hillmann ranch. By this point, Hillmann has already died from his wounds, and Carter is anxious to retrieve the money thats owed to him. In transpires that Kay and her father had conspired with Carter to rob a bank in El Paso. However, Kay and Hillmann double crossed Carter by running off with the money. Pretending to be married, the criminal couple have been hiding out in New Mexico, and now that their hiding place has been discovered, and with Hillmann out of the way, Carter is ready to reclaim the only two things that interest him: the money and Kay. The money is quickly discovered partly buried on the property, but before the bandits can escape with it, they are thwarted by the sudden appearance of Nebraska. In the climatic gunfight, all the thugs are quickly dispatched, and the subsequence fight between Nebraska and Carter ends with the former being killed.
Nebraska hands the stolen money to the new sheriff, who seems only too happy to keep the money for himself. Shaking his head, Nebraska mounts his horse and rides off, alone once again, leaving behind Kay who is alive and well, but facing a lonely, sterile future.
