 Opposition to annexation is gaining favor because it is mistakenly believed that Texas pioneer Sam Houston (Moroni Olsen) opposes statehood.The opposition leader is wealthy rancher Thomas Craden (Broderick Crawford), but when Craden is ambushed by Comanches, Dev comes to his rescue.Dev and Craden travel to Austin, where they meet Martha Ronda (Ava Gardner), who runs the local newspaper.