The story follows a band of former Confederate soldiers who were part of a cavalry unit. Their commander, Graff (Rourke) had once been a heroic and staunch supporter of the southern cause, but after losing his family he became cold hearted and ruthless. His second in command is Eustis (Mulroney), whom Graff has trained on the strategies of leadership and combat command.
A doctor and his pregnant young wife move into a small New Mexico town. At first the locals are friendly and pleased to see them, but soon the wife begins to suspect that their new neighbors' motives are more than just hospitality.
After a series of vicious crimes by a renegade group of cowboys, led by "Red Jack" Stilwell, a legendary tracker, Noble Adams is pulled out of retirement to capture Stilwell, dead or alive. Reluctantly, needing more men, he allows his son, Tom to tag along, revealing to Tom a whole brutal side of ruthlessness Noble thought he left behind.
Refined actress Lauren Ames finally has a chance to study with the great theatre professor Stanislav Korzenowski. Sandy Brozinsky, a brash, loud actress, decides through happenstance to also study with Korzenowski. The two women end up dating the same man (who turns out to be a double agent) and follow him across the country to force him to choose between them.
Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.
A state senator is murdered outside his home, and the police arrest a strange man described as having "icy eyes" for the crime. An Italian reporter finds a stripper who claims to have been an eyewitness to the assassination and saw the man with the icy eyes commit it. At his trial she testifies against him, and he's sentenced to death. However, the reporter soon begins to find holes in the stripper's story, and other circumstances arise which makes him believe that the wrong man may have been convicted
