Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), a retired peace officer with a notable reputation, reunites with his brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton) in Tucson, Arizona, where they venture on towards Tombstone, a small mining town, to settle down. There they encounter Wyatt's long-time friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), a Southern gambler and expert gunslinger, who seeks relief from his worsening tuberculosis. Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) and Mr. Fabian (Billy Zane) are also newly arrived in Tombstone with a traveling theater troupe. Meanwhile, Wyatt's common-law wife, Mattie Blaylock (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), is becoming dependent on a potent narcotic. Wyatt and his brothers begin to profit from a stake in a gambling emporium and saloon when they have their first encounter with a band of outlaws called the Cowboys, led by "Curly Bill" Brocious (Powers Boothe). The Cowboys are identifiable by the red sashes worn around their waist.