A census taker (James MacArthur) arrives in the Texas town of Cold Iron, with a population of 789. He goes into the local bar for a cold beer, and tells the bartender the town has an unusual number of citizens named "Jonas" and "Reprisal." He observes a painting above the bar of a violent street fight. He is then told of the events behind the fight involving a buffalo hunter and gunman named Jonas Trapp and the night the local Mexicans still call "The Night of the Reprisal" and "The Night of the Tiger", their name for Jonas.