Marshal Simon Fry (Henry Fonda) is a lawman who will do whatever it takes to keep the peace in Silver City, Arizona, and Fry's sometimes reluctant deputy, Clay McCord (Allen Case), is a sharp shooting storekeeper who shuns violence whenever he can, but who is persuaded to step in to help the aging Silver City Marshal, Herk Lamson (Wallace Ford), when Simon is out of town. Although sometimes out of town keeping the peace in the wild expanse of Arizona Territory, Fonda narrates every episode.