Known for Acting
Edited version of the 1938 Republic serial "The Lone Ranger."
Former Texas Ranger Wade Patterson (Starrett) returns to his home town, only to find that the territory is in the grip of cattle rustlers. For a while, it looks as though heroine Linda Holden (Meredith) is in cahoots with the bad guys, but Patterson quickly clears her name and takes on the crooks himself.
In this entry in the long-running series of westerns, the Three Mesquiteers transform their ranch into a prison farm to provide a model for prison reform. They are opposed by a local contractor who wants to build a standard prison.
It's 1861 and Buck gets the business men of Sacramento to establish the Pony express. Hawley runs the stage line over the same route and has the U. S. mail contract. When it looks like the Pony Express will be awarded the mail contract, he gives guns to the Indians and has them attack both the riders and the stations.
The Three Mesquiteers are forced to track down a train robbery ring after some of the gang hijack their truck for a getaway and the police conclude they are part of the gang, an identification which is just fine with the gang's nameless chief.
Truck drivers Steve Hackett and Bill Purvis are fired from their jobs with the West Coast Trucking company for not using second-gear going down steep grades. Davis, the company vice-president, surprisingly asks them to carry a load of merchandise to Arrowhead and offers a $1000 bonus. He tells them it is a load of lettuce. Several miles out of Los Angelese, they are stopped by a mob of lettuce-farm workers on strike. When the first crate is tossed off the truck, it explodes and the two pals learn their merchandise is a cargo of dynamite. The workers let them proceed and they crash into a car driven by Mary Stevens, whom they had met at a restaurant. She and her dog, "Butch" (played by a Credited dog named Stooge), join them and they deliver their cargo, and learn unscrupulous real-estate operators have jammed the locks on the dam in order to ruin the ranchers and farmers and take over their property.
In 1865, Captain Mark Smith of the Confederate Army leads a band of deserters to conquer Texas and rule it as a dictator. In one of his first actions, he captures and assumes the identity of Texas' new Finance Commissioner, Colonel Marcus Jeffries, after having the real man murdered. When a contingent of Texas Rangers enters the territory, Snead, one of Smith's men, leads them into an ambush by Smith's "troopers". The Rangers are apparently wiped out, although one injured survivor is left. The survivor, nursed back to health by Tonto, swears to avenge the massacre and defeat "Colonel Jeffries" and his men.
Cattle are being routinely stolen from a local ranch, and suspicion centers on a local mountain family. But the Three Mesquiteers are wise to the criminals' deeds. But when a ranger is shot and Stony is framed for the crime, it's up to Lullaby and Tucson to prove his innocence.
This is a remake of Columbia's 1932 "Cornered" that starred Tim McCoy. Bob Pearson saves the life of his friend, Sheriff Dick Houston, who has captured two stagecoach bandits and is about to be shot from ambush by a third. Bob is found a few days later near the murdered body of cattleman Herrick with a gun in his hand.
Deputies Gene Autry and Frog go up against modern cattle rustlers. These rustlers use technology such as, airplanes, radios and refrigerated trucks to steal the cows, butcher them in the field and ship them out before getting caught. This causes the town to bring in a modern NYC detective to catch the crooks, but will Autry and Frog be permanently out of a job?
American federal agent Clark Stuart is on assignment in Santa Fe to draw up a trade agreement with the newly installed Mexican governor. Meanwhile, Walter Jamison leads a wagon train from Missouri, hoping to take advantage of the new agreement. Among Jamison's passenger are famed frontiersman Jim Bowie and a very youthful Kit Carson. The destinies of all these personalities intersect when villainous ex-governor DuPrey schemes to undermine the treaty and take over the New Mexico territory for his own vile purposes. Somewhere along the way, Davy Crockett joins the "good guys" in their efforts to thwart the despicable DuPrey.
Ace Beldon is in prison, but with his stolen bonds not recovered, Capt. Saunders has an idea. He sends Graham to prison and has him and Beldon break out. With Ranger Raymond assisting, they make their escape and get to the hangout run by Stone. But the plan starts to go awry when Sam overhears Graham talking with the Captain and reports back to Stone.
