Ed Ryan is a Texas ranger who goes undercover to trap a criminal gang headed by Luke Andrews. Posing as the wanted killer Robert Larkin, Ed is able to move freely amongst the town riffraff. Marshal Bullock learns that the brains behind the gang of Luke Andrews is a group of supposed respectable businessmen.
Taggart and his men are breaking wanted outlaws out of jail and then killing them for the reward money. Marshal's Whip, Jim, and Texas have a plan to trap the gang. Whip poses as a wanted outlaw while Jim joins Taggart's gang and helps break him out. But there is trouble when gang member Mike, wanting a bigger cut, double-crosses everyone.
Jim Bannon and his partner own a stagecoach line. With the coming of the telegraph and the end of the Pony Express, two men plot to take over and get the new mail contract. When Jim's partner is murdered and Jim's name is written in the sand beside the body, Jim is arrested. At his trial Whip brings surprising evidence that clears Jim and the two plotters are soon arrested.
Skipalong Rosenbloom is the star of a heavily commercialized TV kiddie show, presided over by a smarmy announcer. He is at odds with western bad guy Butcher Baer.
After conning a potential buyer into believing that Queenie's herd is diseased, nasty would-be empire builder Duke Drake is confronted by the girl's new tough foreman Bill Foster. In retaliation, Drake frames Bill for a stage robbery committed by his own henchmen and arranges a phony trial presided over by the saloon's bartender Judge Whipple. Queenie interrupts the "trial" with the news that the townswomen have all elected Jim Marshal. To uphold the decision, Bill has secured the release of three convicted outlaws: Blackie Malone, Bad Bill Smith, and Shotgun Thompson, two of whom join in the fight against Drake and his gang.
After the death of his mother, young Ben Blair finds a safe home on John Rankin’s ranch. But when Rankin is murdered, the older Ben sets out to seek vengeance.
Cowhand Drake discovers gold on the ranch of his boss, Joe Stuart and makes a deal with crooked lawyer Mel Porter to induce Stuart to sell. The latter refuses, and also orders Bill Cameron not to see his daughter Laurie again. Foreman Johnny Mack, after intervening, quits after he sees Stuart hit Laurie while quarreling over her proposed marriage to Cameron. Peddler Alibi Terhune witnesses the killing of Stuart by Clem Kettering, hired by Porter, and is taken prisoner. Cameron is blamed for Stuart's killing, escapes jail, but is persuaded by Johnny to go back and stand trial. Johnny rescues Alibi and the two work together on clearing Cameron's name, and bringing the real culprits to justice.
It took a lot of courage to set up a new production company devoted to "B" westerns in 1949, a year when the genre was showing signs of winding down. Filmed in Trucolor, Stallion Canyon was the maiden effort from Kanab Productions, a Utah-based organization. Former Sons of the Pioneers vocalist Ken Curtis made his starring debut in this one, playing a ranch foreman who does his best to track down a rogue stallion. The rest of the cast is comprised of unknowns, save for villains Ted Adams and Forrest Taylor. Cheaply produced, Stallion Canyon has the twin advantages of a relatively new leading man and excellent location photography.
As Bruce Lanning posts a "no trespassing" sign at a watering hole on his Circle A ranch, his sister Jane rides up with news that Wes Caven, the hired gun of the Elwood brothers, is looking for him. Soon after, Wes appears and kicks over the sign. Later, Sunset Carson, Wes's boyhood friend, rides into town to invite Wes to become a partner in his new ranch. Just as Wes declines the offer and offers Sunset a job working for the Elwoods instead, Bruce bursts into the saloon, demanding to see Frank Elwood. Not to be confused with the 1950 John Wayne film of the same name
Johnny Mack goes to work on "Ma" Curtis' ranch, to the disapproval of his friends, rancher Glenn Hadley and his sister Beth, who are at odds with her. Secretly, Ma's foreman Stoner is plotting with real estate man Ed Dutton to ruin her ranch and acquire it cheaply, with controlling water rights. Johnny stops henchman Dade in an attempt to dynamite the barn and Stoner, supposedly taking him to the sheriff, kills him. Johnny stops Glenn and Beth from tearing down a Curtis fence in order to get their cattle to water, but Glenn refuses to help even after Johnny explains he is helping Ma in order to find out who is behind the attacks on both ranches. Ma pretends to fire Johnny for saving Glenn from an ambush. As the outlaws attempt to rustle Ma's remaining cattle, Johnny, Alibi and Glenn join forces.
With the railroad coming, Nixon is after the ranchers land. Using a stooge land agent, his method is to claim the person they bought their ranches from never had title to the land and their deeds are worthless. Fereral Agent Johnny Mack arrives posing as a gunman. He is quickly onto the henchman and Land Agent and eventually suspects Nixon is the big boss. But he needs the help of ventriloquist Alibi to bring them in.
A dying Jack makes Bob and Flash promise not to tell his sister that he was an outlaw. When Bob confronts Flash with his muffler found at the stage holdup, Flash tells Mary that Bob killed her brother. Believing he can now marry Mary, he plans one more robbery. But the jealous Tiana overhears and runs for the Sheriff.
Riders of the Dusk is another of Monogram's formula Whip Wilson westerns. Since the studio couldn't build an entire film around Wilson's bullwhip prowess, a plot was called for. This time around, it's the one about a U.S. marshal who searches high and low for a mysterious masked desperado. The mystery angle is minimal, since seasoned movie fans will be able to determine the mystery person's identity within 15 minutes. As always, Andy Clyde is a tower of comic strength as Whip Wilson's grizzled old sidekick.
Legendary lawman Pat Garrett wins the Fourth of July buckboard race in a small Nevada town against the unscrupulous Fred Smith and pretty Lavinia White. Lavinia blames Garrett for sending her father Ivory White to jail for robbing 100,000 dollars. White, who has stashed the loot away someplace, is about to be released and plans to return the money to the express office for the sake of his children, Lavinia and Chad. Nasty Jim Judd forces Lavinia to help him rob the coach carrying Ivory and the money, counting on the fact that White will keep quiet for his daughter's sake.
Bela, reared by Indians, learns that she is a white orphan and runs away from the Indian village to avoid marrying a brave from the tribe. She determines to marry land prospector Sam Gladding, who resists her advances but later falls in love with Bela when an Indian sage gives him some advice.
Posing as unemployed musicians, Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys, are being helped by Ted Gibson owner of the Harmony Inn in San Antonio, Texas. Gibson is impoverished because he keeps buying his kleptomaniac Uncle Zeke out of trouble, supports his Ma, and Grandpa. He wants to marry Jean Wallace, and doesn't know that Acuff and his musicians are traveling incognito for the radio show "Who Am I Helping?" If he guesses their identity, he wins $100,000.