Prairie Badmen

Salesman Fuzzy Jones arrives in a western town with a medicine show, and before a crowd of spectators, lists the many diseases that can be cured by Doc Lattimer's Kickapoo Elixir. Meanwhile, inside the wagon, Doc, who is unwell, and his daughter Linda are listening to Fuzzy's speech. Suddenly, three outlaws, Cal, Lon and Steve, who have tied the medicine wagon to their horses as a joke, gallop away with Doc and Linda still inside. Fuzzy, who is knocked off the back of the wagon, chases after the gang, until passing cowboy Billy Carson runs them off. When Linda's brother Don and Fuzzy catch up to the wagon, she asks Billy if he will ride with them into the next town. He agrees, and that evening, when they stop to make camp, Don tells Billy that he is unhappy traveling with the show and wants a chance to make more money. The next morning, after the show sets up in another town, and Doc does his sales pitch, the same three outlaws recognize Doc, who had visited the town five years earlier. Cal then buys Don a drink at the saloon, while Steve and Lon attack Billy. After Fuzzy joins in the fray, the customers leave the wagon to watch the fight, prompting Linda to fire Fuzzy. Later, Don reveals to Billy that Cal had asked him if his father knew an outlaw named Bill Thompson. At the wagon, an armed Cal declares to Doc that he wants the four bars of gold that Thompson stole from an express office five years earlier. Thompson drew a map revealing where the gold was hidden, and as Doc was the last person to see Thompson alive, Cal demands that he hand over the map. Doc, however, denies any knowledge of the map. Fuzzy rides up and, feigning drunkenness, pretends to fall against Cal, then grabs his gun while Billy drives off the others. After Fuzzy gets his job back, Doc explains that while he was working at a nearby mining camp, a fatally wounded Thompson staggered into his examining room, gave him the map and died. Doc says he never retrieved the gold, but kept the map. Don tries to convince Doc to retrieve the gold and use it to provide a better life for them all, but Linda insists that they turn it over to the sheriff. Later, Don steals the map and, while the others are asleep, goes to the abandoned cabin where the gold is hidden. When the gang sees him sneaking away from the camp, they follow him. The next morning they all discover that Don and the map are missing. Doc then tells Billy and Fuzzy that the gold is hidden in a cabin and asks them to go and look for Don. Meanwhile, at the cabin, Don notices the outlaws have followed him and quickly buries the map. When the gang approaches, Don persuades them to share the gold with him, then lies about its location, telling them that it is hidden around the fireplace. While the outlaws are busy dismantling the fireplace, Don tries to slip out, but the outlaws follow and catch him. They then tie him up and beat him, but Billy and Fuzzy arrive and move in on the gang. Fuzzy stampedes the gang's horses, drawing them outdoors briefly, then several fistfights ensue until he and Billy overpower the gang. Later, Doc receives a reward when he turns the gold over to the sheriff.