During the 1850's in the western part of the
Utah Territory (now the state of
Nevada), speculator Cash Burridge has but one goal. He wants to buy up as much land as he can. He and other investors have noticed "some blue stuff" in the soil. Some folks say this could be evidence of precious metals. Others don't believe it. But Cash does. His belief is so strong he would kill for it. Which he does. When one landowner, Marv Ide, refuses to sell his property, Cash decides to force the issue. He and his partner Joe Powell hide behind some desert rocks and prepare to snipe at both Ide and his daughter Hattie as they drive by in a buggy. It takes just one shot to do away with Marv, but Hattie survives the attack. She has no idea who killed her dad, but she travels on to town anyway to report the murder. The sheriff organizes a posse. And upon reaching the scene of the crime, they spot Marv's corpse in the middle of the road, being attended to by a stranger calling himself "Nevada" Lacy. The early consensus among the posse is that Nevada killed Ide. And when they discover him in possession of $7,000 cash, they believe this is his motive. Nevada claims he won the money at a gambling house in another town. But no one buys his story. Next thing you know, Nevada is the guest of honor at his own
necktie party. But the sheriff puts a stop to that, and Nevada is taken to town and held for trial. Later, though, Nevada's two partners, Dusty and Chito, ride in and bust him out of jail. Nevada then travels to the Ide ranch house to plead his innocence to Hattie. He then asks her who would have benefitted the most from Marv's death. Eventually the mystery's trail winds its way to Cash Burridge. But while this is happening, assayer Ed Nelson, performs a test on a sample of that "blue stuff" in the area's soil. The test results reveal the town and surrounding countryside is rife with silver deposits. It's a potential motherlode for some speculators—except Cash Burridge. He is exposed by his own partner in a deathbed confession naming him Marv Ide's murderer. ==Cast==