An Easterner Inherits a cattle ranch, only to discover that thousands of cattle have been stolen. He secretly signs on as a hired hand at his own ranch to discover who's stealing them.
A wagon train heads west from Independence, Mo., along the Oregon Trail, led by proud cowboy Clint Belmet. On board are feisty young widow Nancy Wellington and her toddler, Sonny, as well as the older Abby Masters, who begins a romance with scout Jim Burch. Along the way, the wagon train battles Indians led by Kenneth Murdock, a trapper who doesn't welcome competition for Oregon's lucrative fur trade. Wagon Wheels is a 1934 remake of 1931's Fighting Caravans, using stock footage from the original.
Dyer is buying ranches and then retrieving his check by having his gang kill the owner. Bob Worth arrives just as Buck Morton is killed and gets blamed for the murder. Fleeing from the Sheriff, Bob teams up with the Mexican outlaw Golinda. Having seen Dyer pay off his men, he has a plan to trap him and Golinda is just the man he needs to make it work.
Bandits lead by Matt the Mute enter a bar and kill multiple people. Randy Bowers comes to town and is framed by Matt the Mute, who is working with the sheriff (who doesn't know Matt is really a criminal). Randy escapes with the help of the niece of the dead owner of the bar. Bowers ends up running from the sheriff, and ends up in the cave in which the bandits have their hide-out…
When Sheriff Jake sees a man at the safe and then finds the payroll gone, he trails him. Just as he is about to arrest him, the man saves his life. Still suspicious, he joins up with the man and later they learn that Melgrove, the towns leading citizen, is trying to take over the area's ranches by having his gang stop all incoming supply wagons. With the ranchers about to sell to Melgrove, the two newcomers say they will bring in provisions.
When attacked by two dogs, Joe Gilmore leaves them on the desert to die. Later one of the dogs saves John Blake from drowning. Men arrive claiming the dog is killing their chickens. They want to kill the dog but John convinces them the dog's fate should be determined by a trial.
A stray German shepherd, a runaway teenage boy, and a runaway teenage girl end up at her uncle's place in Oregon, where an epidemic of sheep rustling is under way.
Jerry Mason, a young Texan, and Jake Benson, an old rancher, become partners and strike it rich with a gold mine. They then find their lives complicated by bad guys and a woman.
Imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, John Brant escapes and ends up out west where, after giving the local lawmen the slip, he joins up with an outlaw gang. Brant finds out that 'Jones', one of the outlaws he has become friends with, committed the murder that Brant was sent up for, but has no knowledge that anyone was ever put in jail for his crime. Willing to forgive and forget, Brant doesn't realize that 'Jones' has not only fallen for the same pretty shopgirl Brant has, but begins to suspect that Brant is not truly an outlaw.
An emergency at his Aunt's ranch gets Ed Randall leave from the Navy. He returns to find the water cut off and her note due the next day. When the man he seeks legal advice from is murdered, Ed is accused and he now finds himself in jail with a lynch mob forming outside.
When Tad Wallace's act flops on Broadway, he joins a troop heading west. In a small town, they run into Jeffries who has just burned down the theater. When Jeffries kills Griswold, Tad has a plan to trap him by using the talents of Shakespearian actor Thorndyke.
Reporter Speed Morgan helps Flash Barrett escape from the police and this gets him into Flash's gang where he poses as a gangster. Flash and his gang head west guning for Bill Miller who failed to send some diamonds on to Flash. Speed hopes to bring Flash to justice but is in trouble when his true identity is revealed.
Hanley shoots a man and then frames Bill Roberts. Being the Judge he then holds court planning to hang Bill but Bill's friends effect his escape. Andy tries to lead Hanley astray by misleading him as to Bill's location. But Bill changes plans and Hanley catches up with him and this leads to the showdown.
The Rangers in New Mexico are being disbanded but Bob Houston gets them to make one more ride. They go after the outlaw gang led by Hashknife. They catch Hashknife, but he escapes taking Barbara with him and Bob and Slim have to go after him again.