Brand of Outlaws

The Range City sheriff goes after a gang of rustlers and gets shot, but he is saved by drifter Gary Gray, who then gets a job with the gang branding cattle, unaware that they are outlaws. When the sheriff's deputies arrive to round up the rustlers, the gang escapes with Gary's horse, leaving him at the hands of duplicitous deputy Ben Holt, who brands Gary on the chest with a branding iron. When the sheriff discovers how Holt treated Gary, he fires him. Gary then retrieves his horse from gang leader Rufe Matlock, who allows his wife and stepdaughter Verna to live in poverty, and fights Matlock for double-crossing him. After Holt stabs Matlock, he blames Gary for the murder. Because Gary's gun is a thirty-eight caliber and Matlock was killed with a forty-four caliber bullet, the sheriff exonerates Gary, but Gary's footprints were at the scene of the crime, so he must stand trial. Holt gets a job guarding a stagecoach, which will be transporting a payroll, and Gary overhears his plans to rob the stage and get rid of Mrs. Matlock. Gary escapes jail, leaving a note for the sheriff that he is going after Matlock's real killer. Posing as the "lone bandit," Gary holds up the stage and saves the money bag from the rustlers, who stand ready to ambush the stage. Holt shoots the driver, Bill Manning, and leaves him for dead, but he revives and gets to the Matlock ranch in time to warn Mrs. Matlock that Holt is a murderer. Holt abducts Verna, planning to marry her following his last cattle run. In town, Gary stops Holt, they fight, and Holt shows Verna the brand of the outlaw that Gary bears. Mrs. Matlock summons two deputies to save Verna, who still believes Gary is a criminal and takes him to the sheriff at gunpoint while Holt escapes. The sheriff again exonerates Gary, and Verna, shamed, apologizes. Gary then leads the sheriff to the rustlers' hideout and thwarts the cattle run. Holt finds Verna on the trail and insists they leave town together, but she asks to say good-bye to her mother at the ranch. Gary then goes after Holt, while the sheriff and his posse go after the gang and arrest the men. When Gary arrives at the ranch, he finds Holt holding a gun on Verna, but Bill steps in and shoots Holt dead, saving Verna. Gary tells Verna he could look into her eyes forever and they kiss.