Following the devastation of the war between the states, two Union soldiers formed and unlikely alliance with a Confederate officer as they  wandered westward across the prairies, mountains, towns, deserts between the Great Smokies and the High Sierras in search of a new life.

"This is the story of three men who came to known as the Rough Riders. Many years later and half a continent away that name was to win undying glory on the slopes of San Juan Hill. But our story is the beginning of a legend. Three men who came to be known in awe and admiration as the Rough Riders." -- Opening Narration

These rough riders included:

• Kent Taylor as Captain Jim Flagg, a Union soldier. He comes from a long line of no-nonsense military men.
• Peter Whitney as Sergeant Buck Sinclair, a Union soldier. Despite his gruff exterior, Buck is an easy-going sort. He is  expert tracker.
• Jan Merlin as Lieutenant Cullen Kirby, a Confederate officer. He holstered his pistols backwards so he could cross-draw. Kirby is the son of plantation owner and has a cousin named Sam Hanks (Wendell Holmes) whom he visits while traveling west.

On their way west, the Rough Riders:

• Protect a farmer and his daughter from a band of raiders.
• Rescue a family of Maccabites from renegades.
• Intervene in a bloody feud between two families.
• Encounter a group of hooded vigilantes.
• Are attacked by a group of Union Army deserters.
• Bring down a gang of counterfeiters who wounded locals.
• Stop a gang from shanghaiing men for sea voyages.
• Get involved in a shootout over a land dispute.
• Help farmers victimized by a phony government agent.
• Volunteer to be the law in a frontier town without a marshal.
• Track down a gang of outlaws who murdered some settlers.
• Help a famous French singer held for ransom.
• Transport a women to a trial who can prove a man innocent.
• Defy a rouge Confederate officer who uses his loyal rebel troops to terrorize the local countryside.
• Discover a plot by William Quantrill to kill President Johnson.
• Reveal the treachery of a Union Officer who is keeping Confederate soldiers beyond their sentence despite the fact the war is over and surrender terms were signed at Appomattox.
• Learn of a plan to steal an army payroll,
• Intervene with a hostage negotiation when outlaws kidnap the governor to exchange for another outlaw.