Joaquin Murieta and his wife travel to northern California to mine gold, but only one white person, a marshal, will befriend them. He exacts revenge on the bandits who beat him and his wife, killing them both and robbing the land. In the end, the marshal corners Murieta and persuades him to give up. When Murieta is injured and recovering, his gang terrorizes him, resulting to his death in a final confrontation with the marshal.