Cowboy escaping from the drought in the Northeast Brazil meets some officers led by a cruel lieutenant, whose main objective was to catch organized outlaws and invade the small town of Juazeiro. They arrest and torture him, hoping he would tell them the whereabouts of Padre Cícero, a prominent religious leader of the place. But he manages to escape and arrives in Juazeiro. The police invade the city and arrest the believers who were celebrating a party for Padre Cícero.
In a desolate desert, two desperados prepare for a duel in classic western style under the blazing sun. The stake is a bag with valuable contents. Eyes leer, foreheads are beaded with sweat. Who will be the fastest shooter?
Billy Nelson returns to his hometown of Malopasso after ten years as a rancher on a large ranch in San Vito. Once in town, Billy discovers a terrible truth: His parents, Santo Nelson and Rosa Lopez, were killed by the terrible bandit Parker. Shocked, Billy vows revenge against the perpetrators of his family's massacre.
Bill Going is the star pitcher for his local Choctaw baseball team. Gamblers from Jimtown try to persuade him to throw the game and he shoots and kills them. He is given a reprieve to pitch the last game of the year.
U.S. Marshal "High Pockets" Henderson discovers the body of Bud Blythe near the town of Farewell. After leaving his fingerprints on a photograph of Blythe's sister Joy, who traveled West with Blythe to start a ranch, High Pockets informs the sheriff.
U.S. Government surveyor John Field suspects Nanette, the adopted daughter of Cavalry-Major Webb, of being a spy and disclosing government secrets to the Sioux tribe, in their war against the whites. The Sioux attack and Field sees Nanette talking to an Indian, Eagle Wing during the attack. Field and Eagle Wing fight and the latter is killed. Field brings his body to the fort and Major Webb sees that it is long-lost black-sheep son who has turned renegade. Nanette then tells Field that she has been giving Eagle Wing money to keep him quiet and not disgracing her benefactor. Major Webb then reveals, in flashback, that Nanette is not a Sioux but a white girl kidnapped by the Sioux as an infant. Field then asks Nanette to marry him.
When Poncho discovers that his death is imminent, he sets out on a journey to finish his song. Along the way, he encounters oddballs and outcasts in the after hours of the night, distracting him from his songwriting in situations that are in turn comic, surreal and tragic.