A sexy young manicurist living with her older backwoodsman husband in a small Canadian town finds herself attracted to a young, rich and famous divorce lawyer who comes to town on vacation.
Slim Duane, a wandering cowpuncher in search of his stolen horse, is forced by a fugitive to exchange clothes and finds himself stranded and broke in a town. He is seen by Eben Purkiss, who mistakenly identifies him as the fugitive (Matt Holden) and rides for the sheriff.
A party of campers return to Tom Stewart's ranch resort to report they have been held up by bandits. Lawrence, their guide, explains that it is a staged stunt for their benefit; Stewart confirms this and refunds the losses but writes to his old pal Jeff Morgan, a former gunfighter, telling him of his predicament. Morgan sends his son, Jeff, Jr., a superb rider and dead shot but otherwise an awkward lout; at the insistence of Pauline, Stewart places Jeff in charge of a camping party. Laura Mayhew, a city girl in league with Lawrence, sends up a flare signal at night, and while Jeff chases some bears into the woods, Lawrence and his men hold up the camp.
Barely out of prison, Jim Regan is arrested once again, this time for the attempted shooting of Denver Dan Norris, the villain who framed him in the first place. With the assistance of his young friend Wally Weston Jim is released once again on the condition that he won't leave town.
Peace River Parker, foreman of the Cross L Ranch and engaged to Jess, the daughter of the owner, is railroaded into a prison term by the false witness of Jefferson Crane, who covets the ranch and Jess. Through the complicity of Clell Danert, a villainous foreman who also desires Jess, Crane arranges to ruin the Marshall ranch by driving a herd of sheep onto the cattle range.
Johnny Arthur has been ordered to spend a year out west to toughen him up, so he and butler George Davis head out. The cowboys at the ranch don't like him, so Johnny and they play practical jokes on each other. However, when Virginia Vance is kidnapped, it turns out to be real desperadoes.
Lightnin' Bill Williams, the owner of a 50,000-acre ranch near the town of Cactusville, takes a fall off a cliff, and the experience affects him to the extent that he has lost his nerve. Oil promoter Dan Carson and geologist Lional Murphy find large oil deposits under Bill's ranch, and decide to swindle him out of them. Complications ensue.
The story is motivated by a long-standing feud, which comes to a head when each of the warring families tries to adopt an orphan girl who is about to receive a huge inheritance.
Four Square Steve is a roaming cowboy who saves Milly from the rude advances of a dyed-in-the-wool villain. She gets Steve a job on her father's ranch. The bad man returns and kidnaps Milly to a deserted shack where he tries to force her into marrying him. Steve has found the note she left and he is rides to the rescue.
Dolly Mainard, en route to her father, a major at Fort Blaine, is escorted through dangerous Sioux territory by a cavalry detachment and Army scout Jim Cardigan. When Captain Blackwell offends some braves of Chief Gray Wolf's tribe, Jim is sent ahead to the Indian camp to ask for peace. Imprisoned by the Indians, he sends a message to Blackwell not to advance; Donlin, a renegade scout, tears the note in such a way that the message is distorted, and the entire force is killed. When Jim escapes, he is accused of treason by Blackwell, court-martialed, and sentenced to death; however, he escapes and rescues Dolly, her father, and Blackwell from Donlin's band of renegades. Jim discovers the missing portion of the note in Donlin's hat, proving his innocence. Dolly remains to become his wife.
Bill Bradley, who owns a small house and a one-horse corral in the hills, saves the lives of Betty Brent and her brother Mike from a forest fire in which their mother has perished. He decides to take care of them. When word spreads that Betty is actually 18, a committee of citizens, headed by Cliff Barrowes, whose father holds a mortgage on Bill's property, calls to protest; the sheriff's wife offers the children a home; and soon after, Cliff begins to woo the girl. Bill, meanwhile, is forcibly held by a trio of outlaws about to flee across the border.
Dare Rudd and Bate Fillmore have been enemies since early childhood, primarily over the affections of Nell Worstall. Dare, assuming the name of Holt, goes west to Colorado, as does most of his Kentucky friends and enemies. The feud between Dare and Bate is renewed, and Dare learns that Nell's father is in jail on a trumped-up charge made by Bate in order to force Nell to marry him.
Dean Randall is a hero of the Great War who comes home to his horse and his father's ranch. When back he saves a family in a wagon train -- a father, daughter Grace, and three orphan children.
A young woman, Molly Marble, is enmeshed in a train robbery by her crooked step-father. She meets a stranger, Jeff Morton, and suspects he knows where the loot is hidden. For the sake of her relatives, she must try to 'vamp' this information from him but, instead, she falls in love with him.
Jack Pepper accidentally fires his gun while forcing a newspaper editor to retract his statement regarding Miss Tulip Hellier, and the sheriff goes after Jack. While hiding out, Jack finds a liquor cache on the Hellier ranch and knows it was placed there as a ruse to distract the sheriff while an outlaw gang runs dope across the border.
U. S. Cavalry Lieutenant Ranson belittles the exploits of a bandit known as "The Red Rider," and boasts to his fellow officers that he could hold up a stagecoach with a pair of scissors. And rides out and does so. But the next day, the postmaster, returning from a neighboring town, is also held up and his bodyguard is killed. Ranson is arrested on suspicion and placed on trial. But at the trial suspicion point to Cahill, post trader, and father of Ranson's sweetheart, Mary. In order to save him, Ranson pleads guilty but, in return and knowing that his daughter loves Ranson, Cahill admits he is "The Red Rider." Meanwhile, the real "Red Rider" is still at large.