Wyoming Roundup

In the town of Willow, Wyoming, hired gunman Wyatt kills the sheriff. Later, at the local saloon, he laughs as rancher and mayor Earl Craven and his son Jack discuss the town's lawlessness with despair. Jack challenges Wyatt to a fight, then must be rescued by Whip Wilson and his partner, Bob Burke, who have just arrived in hopes of finding work as ranch hands. The town council members, who include Craven, merchant Randolph, saloon owner Franklin and several small ranchers, are so impressed with Whip and Bob that they hire them as deputy marshals. Craven tells the new lawmen that wealthy rancher Bill Howard, who jealously guards his cattle by shooting anyone he sees on his land, is behind the recent spate of crimes. Unknown to Craven, however, Randolph has hired all the gunmen as part of a plan with the other small ranchers to destroy Howard and then divide up his ranch between them. Whip and Bob's first act as marshals is to outlaw guns in town, and their first dissenter is Howard's daughter Terry. When Jack, who is secretly engaged to Terry against their fathers' wishes, informs her that Whip saved him, she relents and asks the marshals to help settle the feud between their families. On their way to visit Howard, Whip and Bob see a group of men transporting cattle. When they then learn from Howard, who thinks that Craven is trying to take over his land, that his cattle are being rustled, they tell him about the strangers herding cattle. Howard asks them to track the rustlers, so Whip and Bob ride into the hills. A few miles out, they see a man digging a large hole, and shoot him when he tries to escape. Finding hundreds of skinned, dead cattle in the hole and a hide bearing Howard's brand, they realize that the rustlers are after the hides. Just then, Wyatt rides up and, although the gunman refuses to talk when Whip arrests him, Whip jails him. He leaves Bob to stand guard while he returns to Howard's ranch, where Howard and Craven are embroiled in a bitter fight. Whip encourages them, along with Terry and Jack, to talk things out. Meanwhile, Randolph sends Franklin to the jail with a pot of drugged coffee. Soon, Bob passes out, allowing Randolph to break Wyatt out of his cell. Wyatt returns and revives Bob, who names Franklin as the man who drugged him. Randolph watches from a nearby window while Whip attempts to arrest Franklin, and when the saloon owner tries to flee, Randolph shoots him from the window to keep him from talking. With Franklin framed as the criminal mastermind, Craven and Howard reconcile and together send a letter to their friend, the governor, asking him for advice. Randolph learns about the letter and sends Wyatt to stop the mail stage. During the robbery, Wyatt mistakenly leaves the driver alive, thinking he has killed him, and the man, upon being rescued by Whip and Bob, informs them that rancher Clark was part of Wyatt's gang. Now unsure of who to trust, Bob asks Craven and Jack to accompany him to Clark's, but Randolph overhears their plans and rounds up his men to meet them on the trail. There, he takes Bob, Craven and Jack hostages and explains that he has spearheaded the whole plan in order to incapacitate Howard then start a range war which would leave all the land in his hands. When Jack tries to run, Randolph shoots him and sets out to meet Whip, who has formed a posse with Howard and his men. At Howard's ranch, Randolph calls Whip outside, but when he tries to shoot the lawman, Jack, who has revived and managed to follow them, shoots the gun from Randolph's hand. A gunfight breaks out, during which Craven risks his life to drag a collapsed Jack to safety. Soon, Randolph's men are forced to surrender, and Whip arrests Randolph. Together, Craven and Terry minister to Jack, and all three laugh as Whip struggles to free Bob, who became stuck beneath the porch during the fight.