Stagecoach to Monterey

In the late 1870s, treasury agent Bruce Redmond goes undercover as a wandering cowpuncher in Arizona to ferret out crooks forging "Mint Certificates." The certificates, which are shares in nonexistent or nonproductive silver mines, are sold to unsuspecting citizens, who are told that the U.S. will soon be converting from the gold standard to silver. One day, Bruce flags down a stagecoach traveling from Tucson to Monterey, Arizona, and under the name Chick Weaver, asks for a ride. Also aboard are J. Rodney Stevens, a forger whose real name is Duke Rodney, and Throckmorton "Other Hand" Snodgrass, Bruce's partner, who is pretending to be a tramp printer. Stevens is on his way to Monterey to set up a phony stock ring with gambler Black Jack Barstow. Barstow has been alerted that Bruce is on his way, but when his henchmen stop the coach to search for the agent, they accept that Bruce is just a cowboy named Weaver. In Monterey, Snodgrass obtains a job with Chester Wade, the town's newspaper publisher, who works with his daughters Jessie and "Little Inky." Stevens and Barstow quickly establish their operation, and Wade, who owes Barstow a large sum of money, is forced to print the certificates for them. Pretending to be looking for work, honest or otherwise, Bruce falls in with Barstow's gang, although his main henchman, Gunhand Joe, is suspicious of Bruce. Jessie accidentally finds Snodgrass' badge, but keeps quiet about her discovery to protect him. During their investigation of the town and its surroundings, Bruce and Snodgrass find a heavily guarded house, which appears to be deserted, and kill one of the sentries when he engages them in a shootout. Having seen Bruce leave town, Joe alerts Barstow, who orders him to get rid of Bruce. When Bruce and Snodgrass return to the deserted house, they locate a secret passage through the well that leads to a cave. In the cave is hidden the printing press on which Wade is forced to work, and Snodgrass finds Wade's visor next to the machine. The agents return to town, where they tell Jessie about their real identities and question her about her father. Although Jessie tries to cover for Wade, he later confesses to Bruce and Snodgrass and accepts responsibility for his part in the forgeries. When he learns that Wade had borrowed the money from Barstow for a life-saving operation for Jessie, Bruce realizes that Wade is an honest man and deputizes him. Barstow and Stevens, who have discovered Bruce's identity through a photograph of him in a Denver newspaper, are at the hideout trying to destroy evidence of their criminal activities when Bruce, Snodgrass and Wade ride up. During the ensuing shootout, Wade is wounded, Barstow is shot and Stevens falls to his death when his wagon plunges off a cliff. Later, the recuperating Wade receives an appointment as a special printing expert for the treasury department, and Jessie and Inky prepare to accompany him, Bruce and Snodgrass to Washington, D.C.