The Outcast

In the 1880s, believing that he has been swindled out of his inheritance, young Jet Cosgrave returns to Colton, Colorado. Eight years before, after Jet's father died, lawyer Andrew Devlin presented a will leaving the Circle C Ranch to Jet's uncle, Maj. Linton Cosgrave. Jet suspects that the will is phony, but having lost faith in legalities, hires nine mercenaries, led by Dude Rankin, to help him take the ranch by force. Jet learns from a poor rancher, Boone Polsen, that Hal Newmark, whose valley is used for grazing cattle, has mysteriously disappeared and that the major has strong-armed the Polsens into removing their stock from the area. Jet later learns from his friend, blacksmith Sam Allen, that many townspeople believe Cosgrave had Newmark murdered for refusing to sell him the valley property. Jet makes frequent public vows to oust Cosgrave from the ranch, prompting Mrs. Banner, a sympathetic hotel proprietor, to warn Jet that Cosgrave, who has driven away a succession of sheriffs, has control of the whole town. Later, the sophisticated Alice Austin, who recently arrived from Virginia, introduces herself as Cosgrave's fiancée. Jet tells her his suspicions about Cosgrave, but loses credibility when he makes a pass at her. When a bullet fired through a window sends Jet outside to investigate, Cosgrave's ranch foreman, Cal Prince, and a young ranchhand ambush him. Although the thugs plan to kill Jet, Boone's tomboy sister Judy, armed with a gun, slips up from behind and sends them away. Afterward, upon learning that Jet is a Cosgrave, Judy becomes hostile, but Jet flirtatiously mentions that he remembers seeing her several years before. Inside, Cosgrave shows up to see Alice, who is staying at the hotel until the wedding, and denies knowledge of an attempt on Jet's life. After having Sam construct a branding iron that will alter Circle C brands, Jet orders his men to Newmark Valley, where Rankin coldly shoots a Circle C line cook in the back. Meanwhile, Jet, wanting the Polsens as allies, invites them to return their cattle to the valley, confiding his plan to retake the Circle C. To check out the situation, the Polsens' patriarch, Chad, sends Boone and his brothers, Zeke and Asa, to the valley. Curious about Jet, Judy also rides out and meets with him alone. Jet tells her that he once saw her swimming naked in the river and she confides her ambitions to make something of herself. They kiss, unaware that Boone is watching them. Prince and his men attack the camp, but together, Jet's men and the Polsens drive them away. Prince, realizing that Jet has hired his old cohort Rankin, secretly returns and bribes all of Jet's mercenaries, except one, to switch sides. Later, Chad horsewhips Judy for kissing Jet and throws her off the property. In town, Judy finds refuge with Banner, to whom she confesses her new love for Jet. Doubting that the feeling is reciprocated, Banner privately confronts him. Although Jet callously admits he prefers Alice, he urges the bride-to-be to return to Virginia, warning that Cosgrave will show her his true nature after the wedding. Again, Prince attacks Jet, but Jet escapes into the hotel, where Alice and Judy hide him. Explaining how Jet had kissed her, Judy naïvely tells Alice that he is in love with her, but Jet later tells the worldly-wise Alice that when he kissed Judy, marriage was not on his mind. The next day, Cosgrave punches Prince for making their attack of Jet so public. He tries to trivialize the incident to Alice, but discovers that she has hidden Jet in her room. A fight rages between nephew and uncle, until Banner breaks it up. Later, Cosgrave's men attack Jet at the line camp. The Polsens show up, having discovered their cattle stolen from the valley, and help fight them off, but Asa is mortally wounded. Jet, Boone and Zeke search for the missing cattle and find them being herded away by Circle C ranchhands. Being outnumbered, they start a stampede, then fight the men, and in the struggle Jet kills Rankin. In town, Devlin, who has not been recompensed for forging the phony will that directed the ranch to Cosgrave, threatens to tell Jet, and Cosgrave pistol-whips him. Meanwhile, Judy has learned about Jet's pursuit of Alice and loses interest, despite his growing attraction to her. After learning that the disillusioned Alice is preparing to return to Virginia, Cosgrave challenges Jet to a gunfight in the street. Prince, working independently of Cosgrave, tries to shoot Jet in the back, but Boone shoots Prince dead. The shots prompt Jet and Cosgrave to fire at each other, and Cosgrave is injured. Then, shouting how Jet's father's will was faked, the injured Devlin runs into street, and he and Cosgrave kill each other. With Cosgrave's death, the ranch reverts to Jet and the Polsens regain access to the grazing land. When Boone again catches Judy and Jet kissing, he runs for the preacher.