Blazing Across the Pecos

While investigating a rash of Indian raids on trading posts owned by rancher Matt Carter, The Durango Kid, the masked rider for justice, finds a concho dropped by one of the renegades and discovers an Indian costume beside it. At that moment, Buckshot Thomas, the owner of the concho, fires at Durango, sending him careening over the edge of a cliff. Upon returning to the nearby town of Pecos Flats, Buckshot strides into mayor Ace Brockway's office and boasts that he has just killed The Durango Kid. Buckshot is in league with Ace, who is plotting to drive Carter out of business by paying Chief Bear Claw with rifles to raid Carter's trading posts. Soon after, Steve Blake, a cowboy who secretly assumes the guise of The Durango Kid, rides into town and matches the concho to its mate on Buckshot's saddle. As Steve studies Buckshot's horse, he is greeted by Smiley, the bumbling restaurant owner whom Ace has appointed town marshal as a joke. When a drunken Buckshot stumbles out of Ace's office and begins to shoot up Mike Doyle's saloon, Steve steps in and arrests the drunk, prompting Carter to appoint Steve deputy marshal. Later, Jim Traynor, the editor of the local paper which is owned by Ace, warns Steve that he has just become embroiled in a feud between Ace and Carter, who believes that the mayor is supplying the Indians with guns. When Steve discovers that Carter plans to send another load of supplies to his trading posts, he asks him to postpone the shipment, but Carter refuses, claiming that the ranchers are desperate for the provisions. Upon learning of the shipment, Ace and Buckshot offer Chief Bear Claw one hundred rifles to attack the wagons. After the raid, Steve eavesdrops on Ace's plan to deliver the rifles to the chief via the next stagecoach. Dressed as The Durango Kid, Steve intercepts the stage, removes the rifles and then rides to Jim's office. There, he shows Jim a glove and asks him to identify it as belonging to Durango. Soon after, Steve drives the stage into town, claiming that he found it along the trail, with the driver dead in the back seat. When Jim identifies a glove found in the coach as belonging to Durango, Buckshot, who still believes that he killed the masked rider, thinks that Jim is in league with him and hires gunslinger Gunsmoke Ballard to kill him. As Ballard is about to fire at Jim, Steve guns him down, thus saving Jim's life. To finance more supplies, Carter agrees to sell the Army $20,000 worth of cattle. Leaving his daughter Lola in charge of his office, Carter then rides back to the ranch. To set a trap for Ace and Buckshot, Durango convinces Jim to print a story about the transaction and note that Carter locked the money in the office safe. That night, Ace and Buckshot break into Carter's office. Just as they unlock the safe, Durango steps from the shadows to disarm them. Spotting an intruder, Smiley enters the office, and Durango flees through the back door. Realizing that he has been tricked, Ace enlists Chief Bear Claw to steal Carter's cattle. After the raid, Durango contacts the chief with smoke signals and convinces him to return the cattle. Upon discovering that the chief has informed the soldiers about his role in the raids, Ace decides to steal Carter's money and leave town. When Ace starts beating up Jim, Lola is about to turn over the money when Steve and Smiley arrive to arrest Ace and Buckshot.