The state government plans to build a flood-control dam and condemns the property of the local farmers and ranchers, including The Three Mesquiteers. The state intends to compensate the land-owners fairly, but a crooked real-estate promoter complicates things. The ranchers, led by Stony Brooke (John Wayne), Tucson Smith (Ray Corrigan) and Rusty Joslin (Raymond Hatton) fight back against both the law and the crooks.
