A German collector of antiquities (Michael York) travels to the American west in search of goods to trade for, with the hopes of taking his riches back to Germany. He finds the Dead Man's Gun on a dead body while scavenging for goods, and hires a Mexican to help him on his way. He soon visits an American professor with similar interests, and seeks to trade for part of his valuable collection, i.e. a map rumoured to lead to a dead tribe's treasure cave, but just as a deal is reached, the American backs out, having realized the kind of man von Hubert is after butchering a rare buffalo for its pelt. Furious, von Hubert arranges for a goodbye ride with the professor, ostensibly to leave on good terms, but he instead murders the professor and shoots himself, blaming the deed on the renegade in the area, thus winning the professor's collection and his beautiful wife as well. Soon, however, the wife realizes where von Hubert's love lies, and sabotages him by taking the bullets out of hi