Two riders flee a posse, pistol fire cracking through the dust as the chase ends in the death of both men. In town, the undertaker Slidell, Glenn Dixon, hauls himself into a side business of curiosity, posting a twenty-five-cent fee to view the Dalton brothers. A private agency detective, Parsh, Ed Hinton, arrives to identify the bodies, only to be taunted by Slidell for years of unsuccessful pursuit. Two young women soon appear: Holly Merry Anders and Rose Lisa Davis. Parsh offers condolences, but Holly rebuffs him, and she pushes past both men to glimpse the corpses. Slidell follows Holly and, seizing the moment, physically accosts her; Holly resists, and in the struggle she kills Slidell. Holly and Rose escape into the widening day.
Six years pass in Eastern Colorado, where Holly and Rose, joined by their sisters Columbine Penny Edwards and Marigold Sue George, begin plotting another bold robbery, this time against a stagecoach. Two sisters ride as passengers, while Columbine is drawn to a suave gambler named Illinois Grey John Russell. During the robbery, Grey insists that Columbine take his pocket watch as part of the loot. Rose fires on two would-be shooters, killing one, and the quartet makes a rapid exit to their remote shack. There, they face the unsettling reality that the payroll is not in the strongbox they seized, sparking a tense confrontation. As the sisters push forward, Marigold encounters a young man at the barn who asks for her hand in marriage; when he learns they are Daltons, he bolts in fright. The sisters catch him, tie him up, and press on, while Grey, now a witness and a possible ally or obstacle, remains enigmatically uncooperative with the authorities.
At a campfire, Rose sings a blunt, defiant line about her gun’s reliability, underscoring the sisters’ iron bond. The plan turns toward a gold camp at Dry Creek, and Columbine hints at this destination without revealing Grey’s presence there. In Dry Creek, Grey confronts a banker, Sewell [Malcolm Atterbury], over a gambling debt; the banker begs for more time, but Grey’s patience wanes as night approaches. As Grey departs, the sisters press a bank infiltration, with Columbine reuniting with Grey only to discover his interest in their money complicates the heist. The confrontation escalates when Rose shoots Sewell, and a shot aimed at Grey reveals the fate of Grey’s pocket watch—he survives, unaware that the watch saved his life.
The sisters elude a pursuing posse but tensions flare within their group. Columbine accuses Holly and Rose of escalation, while Marigold pleads for peace and even threatens self-harm to restore harmony. In Tombstone, Parsh closes in, pressing Grey to name the Dalton sisters and outlining a plan to arrest them after a string of crimes. Grey, evasive, claims ignorance of the Dalton sisters and suggests the criminals were female impersonators, then tracks them to Tombstone proper.
In Tombstone, Grey reconnects with the town lawman, and the poker game’s secret location becomes the night’s hot spot. Grey confronts Holly and Rose, demanding the money and warning that he will inform the authorities if they fail. Parsh arrives and the sisters prepare an escape route that involves infiltrating the hotel where the private game is played, all while trying to stay one step ahead of the lawman. The robbery culminates in a tense street escape as Parsh’s pursuit closes in. Parsh fires, killing Marigold, and a later exchange of gunfire with the townspeople claims Rose’s life and leaves Holly wounded. The sisters surrender, and they are taken to jail, with Parsh guiding Holly and Grey carrying Columbine in his arms as the dust settles.
