Outlaw Trail

Banker "Honest John" Travers controls Johnstown by issuing his own scrip to the ranchers and then forcing them to comply with his terms or go bankrupt. Travers' dominion is threatened when Carl Beldon, a representative of the Midwest Packing Company, arrives in town with $20,000 in cash to buy cattle from the local ranchers. When Beldon disappears soon after, his employer suspects foul play and notifies the U. S. Marshal's office. Marshals Hoot Gibson, Bob Steele and Chief Thundercloud, known as "The Trail Blazers," eagerly accept the case after they receive a letter from their dying friend, Bob Thornton, the owner of the Flying T ranch in Johnstown. In his letter, Thornton, who has been mortally wounded by a gang of renegades, appeals to his friends to manage the ranch for his daughter Alice. Upon arriving in town, Bob goes to the saloon, posing as the new foreman of the Flying T, while Hoot visits their old friend, Sheriff Rocky Camron, to enlist his help in ending the lawlessness that pervades the territory. At the saloon, Bob antagonizes Blackie and Spike, two of Travers' henchmen, and Hoot and the Chief come to his aid. The Blazers then ride to the Flying T, but find that it is deserted. Blackie, who has followed them there, listens at the window as the marshals discuss Alice's impending arrival on the next stage. The Blazers then ride into town to meet Alice, but when the stage arrives, they learn that a man in a wagon has already picked her up just outside of town. Alice, meanwhile, has discovered that Blackie, the man who came to greet her, really intends to kidnap her. Soon after, the marshals gallop to her rescue and apprehend Blackie. Travers' gang observes the proceedings and dispatches Bud, a deputy in Travers' employ, to take Blackie into custody. After riding away with Blackie, Bud releases him and Blackie rides to town to notify Travers that Alice has arrived. Meanwhile, the Blazers accompany Alice to the Flying T, where Hoot discovers a scrap of burnt paper with Beldon's name written on it. Soon after, Rocky comes to the ranch and Hoot shows him the paper. When Rocky proposes that either Bud or Chuck Walters, Travers' right-hand man, could explain the meaning of the paper, Hoot suggests investigating Travers but Rocky objects, claiming that Travers has been like a father to him. Soon after, the marshals learn that Travers is forcing the ranchers to include their herds in his cattle drive, and Bob rides to Jud Hanson's ranch to investigate. Arriving just as one of Travers' thugs is ordering Hanson to add his cattle to the drive, Bob intervenes and thrashes the thug. Bob then solicits Hanson's cooperation in destroying Travers and asks him to assemble the ranchers so that they can stop the drive. In town, meanwhile, Travers has learned of Bob's interference and instructs Rocky to arrest him for attempted murder. Rocky refuses, however, and tells Travers that Bob is a U.S. Marshal. That night, Rocky rides to the Flying T to notifiy the marshals that Travers has started the drive early and that all the supply wagons have left except one. When Rocky mentions that he saw the wagon parked alongside the bank, the marshals become suspicious. While Bob and Hoot ride to town to investigate, the Chief waits at the ranch for Hanson and the others. By the time Bob and Hoot arrive at the bank, the wagon is gone. When Bob opens the safe, he discovers Travers' dead body inside and all the cash missing. Surmising that Walters shot Travers and then stole the money, Bob and Hoot follow the wagon tracks. Walters, meanwhile, has hidden the cash in an abandoned mine, and consequently, when Hoot and Bob find the wagon, it is empty. Returning to the ranch, Hoot and Bob are met by Hanson, who tells them that the ranchers have gone to halt the drive. Soon after, the Chief returns to the ranch and tells Bob that he has found the cash stashed in the mine. Rocky and the Blazers then ride back to town to confront Walters and his gang. When Walters sees them, he realizes that something has gone amiss and sends Bud to the sheriff's office to discover what is happening. As Bud enters the office, Rocky pulls a gun on him and forces him to confess that Walters killed Travers and Beldon. While Bob confronts Walters at the saloon, Hoot and the Chief face Blackie and the others in the street. After apprehending Walters and his gang, the Blazers return the cash to the ranchers, then leave Alice and the Flying T in Rocky's care and ride off to their next assignment.