Impoverished by the Civil War and eager to replenish his fortune in the West, Colonel Halliday, his wife, and his daughter, Beth, proceed toward Salina, Kansas by wagon train, at the persuasion of Tom Kirby, a government scout and Beth's fiancé. Although Bill Hickok, Tom's friend, and a company of cavalry are in charge, Pawnee Killer, chief of the Sioux, attacks the wagon train, and Halliday and his wife are killed. Bill rides to Salina for help and to deliver the news to Buffalo Bill Cody. Beth, now hostile to Kirby, joins the household of Lige Morris, a trader in Salina, and, at the suggestion of Bill, Kirby joins General Custer's scouting expedition.
"The Wickedest Place in the World - Tourists Welcome", so says the banner across main street. Bill Scott rides into the city looking for adventure. At the Palace Hotel, the wickedest place in Satan Town, Sue of the Salvation Army strives to reach one or two of the drunks, gamblers, and prostitutes that throng the saloon. Malamute, the bouncer at the bar, never shies from a fight, and what's more, he's never lost one. Sue, to her misfortune, has gotten on his nerves.
Nancy Burton, niece of the sheriff, is in love with Deputy Tom Farrell, but she as an aversion to bloodshed. She overhears that he shot and killed an outlaw three years in the past. He swears to her that it never happened but she does not believe him. Later her uncle tells he that it was he who killed the outlaw, Trevis, in the line of duty. She also learns that the brother of Trevis, seeking revenge, is on his way to kill Farrell.
Don Luis O'Flagherty (Ken Maynard), a daredevil comes to the rescue of his long-lost father, "Tiger" O'Flagherty (George Nichols), the supervisor of a supply-wagon train destined for the miners in Sonora. Tiger is being terrorized by Jesse Wilks (J.P. McGowan), who hopes to starve the miners out of their claims. Falling in love with Tiger's ward, Sally (Dorothy Devore), Don Luis manages to turn the tables on Wilks, who is killed attempting to rob the supply train.
While Pop Morton, a rancher, is being sworn in as deputy sheriff, his daughter Molly, to escape the unwelcome attentions of usurer Blair Hatley (who holds the mortgage on their ranch), meets Art Downs. Art is mistaken by Steve Baird, one of Hatley's henchmen, for "The Terror," a notorious Arizona bandit, and uses this mistake as an excuse to invade their stronghold, where he finds Molly--kidnaped by the rustlers.
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.