In a racially mixed American town, a five-year-old black girl falls unnoticed into a hidden, forgotten well on her way to school. Having nothing better to go on, the police follow up a report that the child was seen with a white stranger, and rumors run wild. Before hapless, innocent Claude Packard is even found, popular hysteria has him tried and convicted. But is he guilty?

Robert Mason, a young black newspaperman, exposes corrupt labor leader Mark Lethier. In turn, Mason's engagement to Vivian Lethier is ended. When Mark Lethier is murdered, Mason is convicted on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to prison. After several years in prison, he escapes and makes his way to the southwestern cattle country, where he falls in love with Tex Miller, a beautiful cowgirl. Mason endeavors to rid the territory of an outlaw band led by Buck Conley, a.k.a. the "Night Terror." Once he is successful, he decides to give himself up to the law, thinking that he will be sent back to prison. However, after discovering that the real murderer has confessed, he returns to Tex and the country he has come to love.