Man from God's Country

In the small town of Yucca a few years after the end of the Civil War, former-soldier-turned-sheriff Dan Beattie is acquitted of murdering a brawling saloon customer. Disenchanted with his job and longing to realize his dream of a owning a ranch, Dan sets off with cattleman Col. Miller on a westward drive. Miller offers Dan a permanent job with his outfit, but Dan states that he plans to locate his war companion, Curt Warren, in the town of Sundown. Upon reaching the outskirts of Sundown, Dan agrees to stay on one more day to assist Miller. While there, Dan befriends young Stony Warren, unaware that he is Curt's son. Unknown to Dan, Stony steals a braided horsehair rope, but when Miller catches him, Dan insists it was a gift. Surprised, Stony returns the rope the next day. That afternoon Dan is shot at by an unseen assailant, Mark Faber, a hired gun for wealthy freight company owner Beau Santee, who runs Sundown. The following day after Dan bids Miller farewell, Faber follows Dan until Dan encounters singer Nancy Dawson, who is out for her usual morning ride. Dan and Nancy ride into Sundown together as Faber hurries ahead to report to Santee. Santee has learned that the railroad company has sent an agent to Sundown to explore the possibility of building a rail line through the town, which would disrupt Santee's exclusive freight business. Faber and Santee believe that Dan may be the agent, but later when Nancy, who works at Santee's saloon, visits Santee, she dismisses the possibility. Santee nevertheless orders Nancy to find out what she can about Dan and she reluctantly agrees. Later, Santee, Faber and Curt threaten a small farmer who has offered to sell the railroad his land. Curt is ill at ease with Faber's abuse of the old farmer but does nothing to prevent it. Dan is welcomed to Sundown by the sheriff, who recognizes his name and offers him a job, but Dan declines. Dan seeks Curt out at the Big Six saloon, unaware that it is owned by Santee and that Nancy performs there. Curt greets Dan enthusiastically, but the men are forced to flee when Faber tries to start a barroom brawl as a cover for attacking Dan. When Curt takes Dan home, Dan is delighted to find Stony there. Curt introduces Dan to Mary Jo Ellis, a postal clerk who tends to Stony and is secretly in love with Curt. Dan asks Curt to join him starting a ranch, but Curt refuses without explanation and suggests that Dan leave town. Later, Mary Jo confides to Dan in private that despite her attempts to dissuade Curt, he remains doggedly loyal to Santee for employing him when he arrived in Sundown as an impoverished widower with the sickly infant Stony. Mary Jo laments that Curt has had less time for Stony lately, which has made the young boy restless, and wonders if Dan might help. Disappointed by Curt's attitude, Dan returns to his hotel room to find Nancy waiting. She encourages him to stay in town, explaining that she hopes to marry Santee for his money and could potentially employ Dan, but he rejects her offer. The next day, Mary Jo, Nancy, Santee and Faber watch as Dan rides out of town, which relieves Curt. Stony meets Dan along the trail, declaring that because Dan is running out on Curt, he should too. Dan is taken aback, but explains that Curt is supporting Stony the best he can. After Dan convinces Stony to return home, he remains troubled by Stony's implication that he is abandoning his friend. Dan returns secretly to Sundown where he visits the sheriff to devise a plan to force Santee's illegal activities out into the open by convincing Santee that Dan is the railroad agent. The sheriff sends a telegram to the railroad company referring to Dan as the agent, knowing that telegraph operator Will Potter will relate the contents to Santee. Potter tells Santee, but Nancy also discovers the contents of the telegram, which prompts her to find and question Dan in his hotel room. When Santee arrives with Faber, Dan escapes into the alley and, aided by Stony, flees to the Warren home. Continuing with his brazen plan, Dan surprises Mary Jo by kissing her in front of Curt, prompting a surge of jealous anger from Curt, who beats up an unresisting Dan. Afterward Curt storms over to Santee's office, where he readily accepts Santee's assertion that Dan is the rail agent and must be stopped. As Curt begins drinking heavily, Nancy informs Santee that she is quitting both him and the saloon. Faber goads Curt into drinking most of the night and into the morning, priming him to confront Dan. Despite Mary Jo's warning to avoid Curt, Dan decides he must speak with him, and the two meet in the street as the townspeople, certain of a violent showdown, watch anxiously from behind closed doors. Curt refuses to listen to Dan's pleas to stop allowing Santee to use him, until he spots a number of Santee's men posted as snipers on various rooftops. When one draws to shoot Dan, Curt defends him and the two friends, along with the sheriff's timely assistance, kill Santee's henchmen. Dan and Curt chase Faber and Santee into the Big Six, where Curt is wounded and Faber and Santee are killed. Relieved, Nancy, Mary Jo, Stony and the sheriff help Dan tend to Curt.