Westward Bound
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Robert Tansey
Ken Maynard
Hoot Gibson
Bob Steele
Betty Miles
Harry Woods
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Marauders under the command of Albert Lane, the secretary of the Territorial Commission of Montana, have been terrorizing the town of Big Horn in an attempt to drive the ranchers from their lands. In league with Lane are Roger Caldwell, the banker and president of the town council, and Henry Wagner, the tax collector. Before leaving town for a commission meeting, Lane instructs Wagner to raise taxes, to force the landowners into foreclosure. Rancher Jasper Tuttle resists Wagner's subterfuge, however, and is joined by Enid Barrett and the other ranchers. Tuttle then decides to contact his friends, Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard and Bob Steele, U.S. Marshals known as "The Trail Blazers," for help. Soon after, Wagner places a tax on water and fences in the stream that the ranchers use to water their cattle. Outraged, Enid protests and begins to fight with Judd, one of Lane's thugs. As she struggles with Judd, Bob and the others arrive and come to her defense. When Judd reports the skirmish to Caldwell, Caldwell decides to hire a marshal to enforce his edicts. Upon riding into town, Ken is met with anomosity by several of the men he confronted at the stream, and when he greets them with aplomb, Caldwell, impressed by his prowess, hires him as marshal. At Enid's ranch, meanwhile, Caldwell's emissaries, Judd and Wade, come to threaten Enid. Hoot and Bob defy them, then Ken arrives and, after arresting the thugs, deputizes Hoot and Bob. Upon delivering their prisoners to town, the marshals appoint Will, one of the townsfolk, as jailer. Angered by Judd's arrest, Caldwell fires Ken, but Ken refuses to relinquish his authority and Caldwell then orders his men to ambush the marshals. While Ken and Hoot outrun their assailants, Bob, at Enid's ranch, is attacked by one of the outlaws but overpowers him. After outwitting his attacker, Bob meets Tuttle, who is riding the trail back to town with his prisoner. Realizing that the jail is unsafe, Tuttle offers to guard Bob's prisoner at a deserted miner's cabin in the mountains. In town, meanwhile, Judd and Wade shoot Will and escape from jail. Just as Hoot appears to arrest them, Bob and Ken return to town, and in the ensuing fight, Judd escapes. Taking the captured Wade to the cabin, the marshals force him to reveal that Lane is aware that Montana is to be voted into statehood, thus inflating property values. As Wade explains that Lane and the others plan to force the ranchers from their lands and then sell their property at a profit, he is shot by his fellow prisoner, who then escapes. Soon after, Lane returns from the commission meeting with the news that statehood is to be voted on the following day. Upon recognizing Bob, Hoot and Ken as U.S. Marshals, Lane orders Tuttle to kill them. Outnumbered, Hoot lobs sticks of dynamite at the gang while Bob and Ken fend off the others with their fists. Lane and his gang finally surrender, and law and order returns to the town of Big Horn.
Director
Robert Tansey
Cast
Ken Maynard
Hoot Gibson
Bob Steele
Betty Miles
Harry Woods
Weldon Heyburn
Karl Hackett
Hal Price
John Bridges
Roy Brent
Frank Ellis
Curly Dresden
Al Ferguson
Chas. Murray Jr.
Dan White
Horace Carpenter
Crew
Elizabeth Beecher
Robert Emmett
John C. Fuller
Art Hammond
Fred Hoose
Corson Jowett
Frances Kavanaugh
Frances Kavanaugh
Marcel Le Picard
Frank Sanucci
Robert Tansey
Roy Zoray
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Modern sources add Chick Hannon, Denver Dixon and Foxy O'Callahan to the cast. For additional information on "The Trail Blazers" series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry below for Wild Horse Stampede.
