Art Pendragon, owner of the Keystone Ranch, has called a special meeting of the ranchers to address the problem of rustling. The gang is operating out of the fortified Gorre Valley and it will require a small army to batter its way successfully into the valley. This reality makes everyone hesitant to take armed action. Then the rustlers daringly raid a picnic of women and children, kill a Keystone rider, wound another, and take Gwen Pendragon and the women and children hostage. War is immediately declared.