South Pacific Trail

To clear the Alvarez rancho of any witnesses to the perfect crime he plans to commit, ranch foreman Link Felton causes Rex Allen, Slim Pickens and the other ranchhands to be fired by Carlos Alvarez, and then infuriates Carlos by showing him a Chicago newspaper announcing the engagement of his granddaughter Lita to actor Rodney Brewster. Knowing that the second-rate actor is a fortune hunter, Carlos immediately takes the train to Chicago to convince Lita to return home, but when she refuses, he dejectedly boards the Comanche Limited for an early return trip. Upon encountering Rex and his men camping near one of the train's watering stops, he becomes nostalgic and abandons his train journey to help out on their cattle drive. Meanwhile, Link replaces Rex's men with a gang of thugs, and has them hijack the Comanche using an old spur line he found on the Alvarez property. By sealing the train and its passengers inside a mine shaft with dynamite, he assures that the $1,000,000 in bullion contained in an armored car will quietly wait for him until he can dig it out without fear of discovery. When Carlos, Rex and his men return from three weeks on the trail, they learn that Carlos has been reported as one of the passengers on the missing train and is presumed to be dead. After hearing that Rodney has maneuvered Lita into selling the ranch, beginning with the herds, Carlos writes up a bill of sale for Rex, dating it prior to the Comanche disaster, which Rex presents to Rodney. Unwilling to let the money from the sale of the cattle slip away from him, Rodney asks Link to find a quick buyer in Mexico, and when Rex and his men herd the cattle across a dry riverbed, Rodney opens the flood gates of a dam. He plans for Rex and his ranchhands to be killed in the confusion, and then for Link's men to herd the cattle to Mexico. However, Link double-crosses Rodney, and after the flood gates are open, his men return to the rancho. Although they barely escape drowning, Rex and his men save most of the cattle. Using blackmail, Link convinces Rodney to get Lita to open the old mine, so that it can be dynamited without causing attention. Rodney is willing, especially when he is promised part of the bullion that is buried there, but tells Link that he saw Carlos alive with Rex's men. Guessing that Carlos is in Rex's hotel room, Link and Rodney abduct the ranch owner and take him to the mine, where Link's men are digging for the bullion. Thinking quickly, Carlos grabs some dynamite and threatens to blow everyone up, but holds off when Lita, who has by now realized Rodney's deceit and refuses to open the mine, is also abducted. Meanwhile, having received no word from either Carlos or Lita, Rex and Slim search for other railroad tracks and find the old spur line. After following it to the mine shaft and seeing the suspicious activity there, Slim rides back for help, while Rex shoots his way into the mine and waits with Carlos and Lita. Although Link tries to scare them out by starting a fire, they are able to escape from the mine when Slim and the other cowboys arrive. During the ensuing gunfight, Link rides away, but Rodney, feigning a gunshot wound, runs back into the mine and is killed in an explosion caused by Link's fire. Rex pursues Link, and witnesses the outlaw's day of reckoning when his horse stumbles crossing the railroad track and he is hit by the New Comanche on its virgin run. After the rest of Link's gang are captured and the mystery of the Comanche Limited solved, Slim and the cowboys are rehired by Carlos, who must restrain his granddaughter from flirting with the new foreman, Rex.