Roughshod

Three escaped convicts ambush and murder three cowboys, steal their clothes and firearms, and burn their prison garb in a smoldering campfire before riding off to seek revenge on rancher Clay Phillips. This brutal act sets Lednov's vendetta in motion and signals the ruthlessness that will drive the journey ahead.

Clay Phillips is warned by Jed Graham to get out of Aspen, recognizing the danger Lednov and his gang pose. The warning foreshadows the violence that will relentlessly pursue Clay.

Clay, a man in his early thirties, and his teenage brother Steve ride toward Sonora with a small herd of horses, hoping to reach safety. Along the Sonora trail they encounter four stranded saloon girls whose broken wagon wheel has left them stranded.

Mary, who leads the four women, takes charge of the group as they travel. Clay reluctantly accepts them as passengers and begins to soften toward Mary as the journey continues.

A lovestruck local cowboy arrives to marry Marcia, while Elaine, who is pregnant, flees when she learns Clay is guiding the party toward a ranch. Steve escorts Elaine, and it’s revealed she is the Wyatts' runaway daughter, complicating loyalties.

Clay reluctantly keeps Elaine and Marcia with the group, and as they travel he begins teaching Steve to read, slowly softening his view of Mary in the process.

They take an old alternate trail to avoid pursuing outlaws and run into an indignant Irish miner who claims they’re after his claim. When the miner reveals a cache of gold, Helen decides that he looks like a better prospect than the road ahead.

Mary's pride inflames another argument, and she bolts in Clay's wagon. The wagon careens, plunging down a riverbank; Clay dives after her and pulls her to safety as her finery floats away downstream, reminding him of what he is risking. This moment sharpens his resolve to push on toward the next stage.

Lednov spies Mary and the group and tracks them to the miner's camp; that night the outlaws raid the camp. Lednov shoots the Irishman and then turns his predatory gaze toward Helen, who is never seen again.

The next morning Clay flags down a passing coach, concealing his protective feelings behind a brusque goodbye to Mary. The group moves on, leaving the miner's camp behind as they head toward the ranch.

That afternoon the brothers reach their ranch, and Clay schemes to spare Steve from a deadly fight. The gang closes in; Clay kills the two wingmen, but Steve is shot and wounded by Lednov before Clay finishes Lednov.

Clay rushes Steve to the nearest doctor while Mary stays by his side with a lamp. They share a relieved embrace as the doctor patches Steve up, and Clay jokes about finding gingham in town for Mary's new dress.