In 1825, English peer Lord John Morgan is cast adrift in the American West. Captured by Sioux Indians, Morgan is at first targeted for quick extinction, but the tribesmen sense that he is worthy of survival. He eventually passes the many necessary tests that will permit him to become a member of the tribe.
When a black Civil War veteran becomes co-owner of the southern McMasters ranch, the incensed local Confederate veterans come gunning for him and his Indian wife.
Passing through a town, a farm boy aspiring to be a bounty hunter rescues a woman who has been tricked into working in its brothel and the two travel towards his father's ranch.
Photographed by famed cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs just before embarking on EASY RIDER (1969), Mark of the Gun is a classic western tale of outlaws and the women they love.
Ruthlessly pursued by the Rogers family following a dispute over cattle, Ben Caine is chased back to the Caine Ranch. Despite his wife Maria's desperate pleading, the Rogers family hangs Ben Caine, forcing Maria to watch. Consumed with revenge but finding her two brothers-in-law reluctant to assist, Maria enlists the help of Manuel. He agrees to Maria's plan with reluctance, in part because of his deep feelings/attraction to her. Manuel finds employment as foreman at the Rogers' ranch and surreptitiously kidnaps Pa Rogers' only daughter Johanna . With Johanna as the bait, Maria will be in the perfect position to exact her revenge on the Rogers but things don't turn out quite as planned.
Luke Barrett, having lost his memory due to an accident, does not realize that Dingus had killed his wife and brother to take possession of the Barretts' land and money. At first Luke trusts him, but while looking for his forgotten identity he discovers the truth.
When the lead robber in their gang steals the money from his two companions, a cat and mouse/back and forth game plays out as the men try to get the money for themselves. But another player, the heir of the sneaky gang leader, is also on the hunt...
Ken Dakota's search for the murderer of his brother, killed by bandit Gary Stevens, at the behest of land owner Chris Malone. Dakota attempts to bring the men responsible for his brothers death to justice.
William Shatner plays two roles: cowboy Johnny Moon and his ruthless Indian twin brother, Notah. Notah likes peyote and gets the crazy idea that he's the Comanche messiah sent to lead the Comanche nation against the white man but more specifically the dusty desert town of Rio Hondo. Moon, estranged from his brother, decides to stop Notah either by words or by bullets.
Dominated by men in her youth, Belle Starr now out-shoots and out-gambles them as she makes her way around the West. One man who's her equal is Larry Blackie with whom she has an on-again, off-again relationship. Together they become involved in a robbery which goes awry....
This superior Spaghetti western scrutinizes the greed and paranoia that afflict four men as they struggle among themselves to unearth a fortune in gold from a remote Southwestern mine without falling prey to each other's bullets.