The Stranger from Ponca City

Steve Larkin travels from Ponca City to the town of Red Mound to buy the abandoned Atkins ranch. Upon arriving, Steve is puzzled to see a white line transversing the street, dividing the town from north to south. Steve proceeds to the local café, where the proprietor, Smiley Burnette, explains that the line divides the respectable business owners in the northern section of the town from the lawless gunman who inhabit the southern section. When Steve mentions that he has come to buy the Atkins ranch, Smiley warns of dire consequences if he consummates the deal. Before Smiley can elucidate, however, their conversation is interrupted by the sound of gunfire. In the street, Steve finds Deputy Marshal Tug Carter being chastised by storekeeper Grat Carmody for failing to uphold the law. Two gunmen have stolen items from Carmody's store and run across the line, attempting to lure Tug to certain death by crossing the line. As Tug nears the line, Steve lassos the outlaws waiting to ambush him and turns them over to the deputy. Carmody then offers Steve the job of town marshal, but Steve refuses and heads for the Atkins ranch. There, he is startled by Terry Saunders, the real estate broker representing the property. Although Terry warns him about the mysterious events that have befallen all those who have been interested in buying the property, Steve purchases it anyway. Noticing a shadowy figure at the window, Steve steps outside and sees a a man gallop off on his horse. The man, Fargo, one of the gunmen from town, then meets two other outlaws along the trail and they plan to rob Terry as she rides back to town. Just as Terry is attacked by the renegades, the masked rider of justice known as The Durango Kid, Steve's alter ego, appears from the hills and drives them away. Upon reaching town, Terry goes to Carmody's store to register the sale of the ranch. When Flip Dugan, one of the gunmen, tries to prevent Carmody from registering the deed, The Durango Kid appears and insists that Carmody record the sale. Dugan then signals for the gang to lay siege to the store, but The Durango Kid escapes through the back door. Later, when Steve rides into town, he is shot at by an unseen assailant and Terry recalls that all previous buyers of the ranch had also been bushwacked. Deciding to search the ranch for clues, Steve recruits Smiley, Tug and Texas Jim Lewis to help him. While riding the range, Steve finds a broken spur and devises a plan to trap the gang. Later that day, The Durango Kid sneaks into the café, and upon spotting Dugan's broken spur, accuses him of being one of the bushwackers. When one of Dugan's friends draws his gun, The Durango Kid once again escapes through the back door. Soon after, Steve comes to Carmody's store to buy some supplies and asks the storekeeper to invite all the respectable people in town to a party at his ranch the next day. At the party, Steve confides to Tug and the boys that he suspects that the outlaws have been using his ranch to conceal stolen property and that he hopes the party will lure the rustlers into driving the cattle through the ranch while the rest of the town is occupied at the festivities. Overhearing Steve's plot, Carmody, the covert leader of the gang, rides off, followed by Steve and the others. As Tug and the boys confront the gang, The Durango Kid races from the hills to apprehend Carmody. With Carmody's gang behind bars, Tug is appointed marshal and erases the white line dividing the town.