The Adventures of Don Coyote

Near the town of Border Flats, cowboys Don Coyote and his guitar-playing friend, Sancho, who are on their way from Mexico to Santa Barbara, witness a fight between two outlaws and a cowboy. When tomboyish ranch owner Maggie Riley arrives on the scene and tries unsuccessfully to help the cowboy, who is her ranch hand, Sancho and the gentlemanly Coyote intercede on the cowboy's behalf. Maggie, who has lost a string of ranch hands after similar attacks, offers jobs to the sharpshooting Mexicans, but is refused. Maggie is determined to hire the pair, however, and after planting a gold locket in Coyote's saddlebag, has Sheriff Dave Sherman arrest them for theft. Once Coyote and Sancho have been jailed, Maggie offers to drop the charges if they agree to work for her. Reluctantly, Sancho and Coyote go to Maggie's dilapidated ranch, which she runs with her surly, adolescent brother Ted. That night, Coyote and Sancho sneak away from the ranch, but are ambushed by the two outlaws and taken to their hideout in an abandoned mine. There the outlaws' leader, "Big Foot" Ferguson, warns them "It ain't healthy to work for Maggie Riley" and prepares to whip the bound Sancho. As Big Foot raises his whip, however, Coyote tosses some bullets into the hideout's fire, causing a noisy explosion. In the ensuing chaos, the outlaws flee, and Coyote frees Sancho. Outraged by Big Foot's brutality, Coyote returns with Sancho to Maggie's ranch, bent on revenge. The next morning, Coyote and Sancho clean up the ranch house, while Maggie, who is attracted to Coyote, sheds her scruffy clothes in favor of a dress. Maggie then reveals that she has been trying to get her cattle to market in order to repay a bank loan, but has been thwarted by the repeated attacks on her cowhands. Later, while Coyote and Ted, who disdains the "fancy pants" Mexican, are riding toward Border Flats, they are attacked by two of Big Foot's men. Coyote kills one and chases off the other, and his sharp shooting and skillful riding changes Ted's mind about him. Ted shows his new hero a surveyor's plumb marked "United Pacific Railroad," explaining he found it near the ranch house. In Border Flats, while Ted gets his first shave from jovial barber Henry Felton, Coyote goes to see the sheriff. Coyote tells Dave of his suspicions that Big Foot's gang is trying to drive Maggie off her land in order to sell it to the railroad, which has been surreptitiously surveying her property. After Ted's shave, Felton, who is the secret head of the outlaws, meets in private with Big Foot. When Coyote and Ted return to the ranch, they discover that two of Big Foot's outlaws have tied up Maggie and Sancho and are about to set fire to the house. During the ensuing fight, Sancho is untied, and he, Coyote and Ted knock out the two thugs. That night, Maggie dons a frilly gown, and she and Coyote flirt and dance together. When Coyote, Ted, Maggie, the sheriff and his deputies try to herd Maggie's cattle to Border Flats the next day, they are attacked in a pass by Big Foot and his men. Sancho arrives at the pass with reinforcements in time to save his friend, who then pursues Big Foot to Felton's barbershop. After a fierce fistfight, Coyote bests Big Foot and Felton, and the two are arrested. With peace and honor restored, Coyote and Sancho bid goodbye to Ted and Maggie, who sadly heads toward her ranch. Before Maggie has gone far, she is stopped by the sheriff, who tells her Coyote has accused her of stealing his watch. Coyote and Sancho ride up just after the planted watch is pulled from her saddlebag, and Maggie asks if Coyote plans to press charges. "Thieves should always remain together," replies Coyote, who then accompanies Maggie back to her ranch, with Ted and Sancho following.