While surveyin g a telegraph lin e in 1861, Western Union engi neer Edward Creighton (Dea n Jag ger) is severely injure d in an ac ciden t. He is discovered by Vance Shaw (Randolph S cott ), an outlaw on t he run from a posse. F orced to travel on foot after his hors e was hurt, Sh aw at first considers stea ling Creight on's horse , but cha nges his min d and t akes the man w ith him, saving his life. Sometime later, follo wing his reco very, Creighton return s to Omaha, Nebraska and pla ns the construction of a telegraph li ne from Omaha to Salt Lake City, Utah. Facing considerable opposition to the line from Confe derate soldiers, India ns, and outlaws, Creighton elicits the help of his sister Sue (V irginia Gilmore), foreman Pat Grog an (Minor Watson), and assistan t Homer Kettle (Chill W ills). L ooking to put his outlaw past behind him, Shaw arrives at Creighton's Western Union of fice lo oking f or honest work and is h ired as a scout by Groga n who is unaware of his past. Cre ighton recognizes him among the m en and allows him to stay despite his su spicions. Creighton also hires tenderfoot R icha rd Blake (R obert Young), a Harvard-educated engineer as a favor to Blake's father. Shaw a nd Blake are both at trac ted to Sue and vi e for her attention, but th eir roman tic rivalry is cut shor t when con stru ction o f the telegraph line starts on July 4, 1861. After work com mences on th e line, one of the men i s kil led apparently by a mysteriou s band of cattle-rustlin g Indian s. Unconvinced t hat Indians are to blame, Shaw rides out to investigate and f ollows the rust lers' trail to the cam p of Jack Sl ade, a former friend a nd cohort, whos e gang committ ed the kil ling disguised as Indi ans—the g ang Shaw left followin g his last ba nk r obbery. Sl ade reveals that th ey ar e worki ng for the Confederacy to disrupt We stern Union b ecause they believe the telegraph service wil l help the Union. Sh aw rides away and returns t o the lin e. Not wanting to turn in his f ormer frie nds, S haw te lls Creighton that a larg e band of Dakota India ns sto le th e ca ttle, and recommends that they simply replace the herd and not risk a fig ht with the Indians. Sometime later, a confrontation takes place between men w orking on t he forward line and a ba nd of d runken Indians. When one of the Ind ians tries to steal some equi pmen t, a nervous Blake shoot s him, ign oring Shaw's order to rema in cal m. A fter w ord arrives that the main camp is under attack by other Indi ans, t he Wes tern Uni on men rush back to help with t he defe nse. At the main camp, Slade's men, who are again disgu ised as Indians, steal the Western Uni on horses. T he compan y discover the ruse when one of the wounde d Indians turns out to be a white man. Forced to buy back their stolen hors es fr om Slade, Creighto n becom es suspicious of S haw's involv ement, e specially when he admits to knowing th e gang. Soon the U.S. Army arrives and announces the Indians have n ow refu sed to all ow the telegraph lines to go through their terr itor y in respons e to Blake's shooting of the drunken Indian. Creighton, Shaw, and Blake ride out to con vince Chief Spotted Horse to allow them to build the line through Indian t erritory, even though the man Bl ake wound ed was S potted Ho rse's son. Creighton is finally a ble to persuade the Indians to allow them passa ge, and wo rk continues until the company approaches Salt Lake City. Somet ime later, Shaw rece ives word that J ack Slade wants to meet with him. On the way to see Slad e, Shaw is captured and bound by Slad e's men. Slade says his group is going to burn down the Western Union ca mp and they don't want Shaw to interfere. After S lade and his me n ride off , Shaw e scape s from his ropes but arrives bac k too late to pre vent the fire. He h elps rescue some of th e We stern Union men from th e flames and burns his hands in the process . After th e fire, Cre ighton conf ronts Shaw for an exp lanation, but Shaw does not reveal what he kn ows and is fired by Creight on. As Shaw leaves t he camp, he tells Blake that Slade is actually Shaw's brot her and that he, Shaw, will find Slade's gang a nd stop them from i nterfering with the teleg raph project. Shaw rides off a nd find s Slade and his men in a nearby to wn. At the barber shop, Sha w confronts his bro ther, who se gun is co ncealed under the barber's she et. Slade shoots Sha w through th e sheet. Shaw fights back in spite of his wound , killing some of the gang members, and th en dies. Blake arrives and c ontinues the fight with Slad e who dies from his wounds. Soon after, the Wes tern Union line is com plete d and the workers celebrate. When Sue lam ents the absence o f Shaw, Creighton tells her that Shaw can hea r them.
精彩剧情/对白：“臣想着，臣的媳妇会 比较想要什 么，想了许久，她应该想要她娘好， 她娘是被她爹休了出来的，他爹娶了娘 。这些年呢，她娘遭受的风言风语不少 ，如今日子虽然好过了，但总归是被休了出来的。臣就 想着，要么 给我媳妇的娘要个诰命夫人吧，品阶最低的那 种就好了。”
“只有你失忆了 ，才会愿意跟着我前去剑赵，而本宫从 来没有想过要危害你什么 ，即便是你失忆了，到了剑赵，本宫一样是给你一半的城池，让你和本宫平起平坐 ，共同去创建更好的东西啊 。就因为这个，你要害了我们剑赵吗？”
“也是想不通，这安家姐吧，是亲生的没有错，也不 是后娘带的，怎么就会这样呢？成个亲， 两个兄弟连回来都不回来，就好像不是自己家的事情一样，再怎么忙，再怎么远在京城，那自己的妹妹成 亲，也没有 不管的道理吧？而且安家 的老爷夫人也是，完全不像是嫁女儿一样。”
“因为这牵扯到罗家的利益了 ，你做出这样的事情来 ，你就要因此付出代价 ，你不定亲，乔木就不放心，也就不愿意和我们罗家合作，而我们罗 家太需要他们的合作了，甚至还有可能他们会去和我 们的对家合作，合作之后， 我们罗家就
“当年的事情，我没有办法主动去，因为 我没有办法对自 己的家人下手，但如果是你，我还是 那句话，我求 之不得，这样的 话，我心里的大石，也能放下。至于你想以 此来威胁我，让我一 直为了保 守秘密听从于你，那是不可能的，我林间这 辈子都不可能去 做一个傀儡的 。”
