A young teenager named Red and the old prospector who raised him arrive in Baker's Gap, anxious to start a new life, having struck a glory hole of gold. Much to Red's horror, however, the prospector is gunned down in the street. Suddenly alone in a strange town, the boy is angry and distrustful, but fortunately Tom Harrison, the local sheriff, is willing to accept responsibility for his care if he can convince him to stay. A strong bond soon develops between the two, and in exchange for Red agreeing to attend school, the sheriff pledges to pass down all he knows about law enforcement. 

The years pass, but nothing deters the boy from a stubborn conviction to spend his life tracking down outlaws like those who killed the man who raised him. When Harrison's Ranger friend, Al Thornton, shows up, both see an opportunity for Red to reach his goal. Red leaves Baker's Gap to become a Ranger under the tutelage of Thornton. At first somewhat skeptical of Red's abilities because of his age, Thornton and others at the camp come to accept him as one of their own because of his frontier skills and knowledge. 

When Red and Thornton are sent on a routine mission to transport a prisoner, they find themselves embroiled in more conflict than they had counted on. Before the Rangers arrive, the outlaw breaks out of the fort jail with the help of his gang, and a seemingly routine job turns into a deadly manhunt. Eventually the outlaw and his gang head toward Baker's Gap. If the two Rangers cannot arrive in time it will surely spell disaster for the Sheriff Tom Harrison.