The script opens with famed tracker Tom Tobin hunting down two desperate young outlaws, one of them only fifteen years old. Tom finds them barricaded in a high mountain cabin, where he has accidentally wounded the boy. He kills the other who has insisted on shooting it out.
The young boy’s wound is fatal and he laments to Tom about his poor choices. Tom tells the dying boy that everyone has regrets, then pulls the trigger, putting him out of his misery. Meanwhile, Felipe and Vivian Espinosa begin a streak of murders in the vast valley of South Park in Colorado Territory, in retaliation for the crimes committed against their people.
Back in the town of Chama, Tom arrives with the bodies of the two slain outlaws and attempts to collect his bounty. He’s pushed aside with the excuse that a new Colonel has been appointed, which will delay the process. Tom then goes to visit Deloris Sanchez, a woman who works in one of the town’s shops. Tom tells Deloris that he’s fixing up a buggy, shyly asking if she’d like to come for a ride one day.
That night, Tom has a nightmare in which the two young outlaws come for him. In a panic, he wakes from the dream, pulls a gun and shoots where he believes the outlaws to be. When he comes to his senses, he realizes all he has done is blown several holes his his front door.
The next day as Tom repairs the door, he is visited by an old friend, fellow mountain man and tracker Chet Green. Chet explains that another mutual friend, Wayne Hart, is now the sheriff in a town in South Park and has been tasked with finding the Espinosas. Hart has asked Chet for help in tracking the brothers, and Chet, in turn, asks Tom to join them. Tom, still shaken from the night before, turns him down.
Days later, Hart and his men track the Espinosas, discovering a number of grisly murders in their wake. Hart’s men all rush home to protect their families, except for Chet, who insists on staying with the sheriff.
Back at their camp, Felipe and Vivian write letters to the governor and to the the new commander of Ft. Garland, Colonel Sam Tappan, documenting the atrocities they’ve committed and vowing that they’ll never stop. Colonel Tappan commands Captain Wilson to assemble his men and bring the killers to justice. Tappan, having heard of Tom’s tracking prowess, asks him to join the hunt for the Espinosa brothers, but Tom declines, insisting that he’s done tracking for good. Felipe and Vivian continue their murderous rampage, adding to their growing list of victims.
Back in town, Tom takes Delores for a buggy ride, and they begin to grow closer. A montage of Felipe and Vivian’s cruelty follows. In nearby towns, panic begins to grow as the brothers remain at large. In the town of Alma, the townsfolk turn on a traveling miner named John Foster. Seized by paranoia, the town prepares to hang John, despite having no evidence that he’s hurt anyone. Sheriff Hart arrives just in time to stop them.
Hart and his men meet up with Captain Wilson, who has gotten word of the Espinosa’s whereabouts, and join him in the hunt for the brothers. That same night, Vivian tells Felipe that he wants to go back home to see his wife and children. Felipe refuses, wanting to continue the rampage. Vivian insists that he will go back the following morning. In the early morning, the posse catches Vivian as he is getting ready to mount up. Surrounded, Vivian is fired upon from all directions. He is successfully brought down. Furious, Felipe swears vengeance, shoots and kills Hart, then flees the scene on foot.
Back in Chama, Deloris invites Tom to dinner, but their romantic moment is interrupted by Tappan, who has returned to ask Tom to join the hunt. Tom refuses once again, and tells Tappan that he knew the brothers, as their families were linked by marriage. Tom gives Tappan a warning that Felipe is far from done.
Tom and Deloris have their dinner together, discussing their difficult pasts and the people they’ve lost. Tom opens up about the loss of his wife and daughter, finding a kindred spirit in Deloris, who has lost her husband.
Worn out from running, Felipe arrives at a camp belonging to an old man named Mendoza. Mendoza tells Felipe that he used to fight against the “gringos” who had taken his land, but eventually he grew too tired and broken to continue. Felipe is disgusted, vowing that he will fight until his death, but Mendoza tells Felipe there’s no point in fighting back when they’ve already lost. Furious, Felipe considers killing Mendoza for his dissent, but Mendoza calls him out, telling him to save his bullets for his real enemies.
Felipe finally makes it home, joyfully reuniting with his family. Despite his wife’s pleas, he refuses to flee to Mexico, and insists on finishing his mission of vengeance. His mood has grown even darker, and after threatening his wife, insists she never talk to him about it again.
Wanting justice for Hart, Chet visits Tom again, asking him to help track down Felipe. Tom refuses, insisting that he’s left that life behind. Tom and Deloris discuss the situation, and Deloris admits to having known the Espinosas too.
Felipe is infuriated when he learns that his cousin Luis, the next in line to help with his crusade, has been injured and cannot go along. Luis offers up his young son Jose instead. Felipe reluctantly agrees to take Jose along, but draws the line when Jose’s older sister Isabel asks to come too. Jose and Isabel make a convincing case, and Felipe eventually agrees to let her join them.
Tom and Deloris’ relationship continues to grow, while the Espinosas renew their murder spree. Deloris and her employer Philbrook leave town to collect some supplies, but they come across the Espinosas. They try to flee, but Deloris is captured and tortured. Deloris, freezing, bound to a tree and having been left for dead, finds the strength to free herself and eventually makes it back to town, beaten and traumatized.
After hearing what has happened, an enraged Tom finally agrees to join the hunt. Tappan insists on sending a small group of handpicked soldiers led by young Lieutenant Baldwin with Tom, and Tom rallies Chet and a young boy named Juan to join their cause.
Tom puts all his skills to use, finally picking up the Espinosas trail. Rather than sneaking up on them, Tom suggests that they flush the Espinosa’s out of hiding. Meanwhile, Isabel begins to pull away from her uncle and his vendetta, and through her flashbacks, we learn that Felipe raped Deloris. Sensing Isabel’s discontent, Felipe threatens her, warning that if she tries to run, he’ll kill her brother.
The hunt continues, but while Tom is away from camp, The Espinosas surprise the men left behind and Chet is shot and killed. Baldwin insists on burying the dead, but Tom pushes back, warning that if they do, they’ll lose the trail for good. Lieutenant Baldwin relents, and the hunting party moves on.
Tom manages to keep on the Espinosa’s trail and having caught up with them, prepares to launch his assault. At the same time Isabel voices her discontent to her brother, but Felipe overhears, and shoots Isabel’s beloved horse in retaliation. Furious, Isabel swears vengeance on her uncle.
As time for Tom’s offensive draws near, he insists on leaving the troops behind, selecting only young Juan to accompany him. They arrive at the Espinosa camp just as Isabel is preparing to kill Felipe, stopping her plans as they open fire on the camp. Tom brings down Felipe and Jose and then cuts off their heads as proof of their deaths.
They return to Ft. Garland with Isabel as prisoner, and Tom delivers the heads to Tappan. He then goes to see Felipe’s wife Maria, and gives her the cross Felipe was wearing around his neck. Maria coldly drops the cross down the well. The film ends with a series of cards revealing how things ended for the remaining characters.
