After 20 years of service, Marshal Frank Patch (Richard Widmark) is betrayed by the very town he worked so hard to protect in Death of a Gunfighter. The small Western town of Cottonwood Springs is changing and Patch is no longer respected by the people. After Patch kills a man in self-defense, the town leaders decide it is time to remove the Marshal from his position. Refusing to give in to their demands, the tension escalates between Patch and the people of the town leading to a violent and shocking end.