Ridin' Wild

Like many Easterners who suffer from consumption, "The White Plague," Jim Warren goes to Arizona for the curative powers of its dry climate. When he arrives in Tucson, though, he cannot find a room because he is a "lunger." Ill and despondent, Jim is befriended by Betty Blake, the daughter of rancher and town sheriff Frank Blake, who suggests that he try the open desert. Wandering the desert, Jim happens upon members of the gang headed by Scar-face Jordan, a notorious rustler. The gang teases Jim, but when Jordan, who had earlier thrown Jim out of the town hotel, sees him, he orders his men to make Jim stay with the horses so that he will not reveal their location to the sheriff. Some time later, Blake, who has received a wanted poster and a letter from another sheriff, warning him that Jordan's gang may be near, is concerned that the gang will rob the incoming stage. Because Betty will be on the stage, which is carrying a large shipment of gold, Frank organizes a posse. When the stage approaches Tucson, the Jordan gang stops it, but the driver kicks one of the horses to make the stage dart away. Seeing the runaway stage, Jim, who has learned to ride, chases and stops it. When Frank and his deputies arrive, he is grateful to Jim and deputizes him to stay with Betty while he and the others chase down the gang. The gang gets away, but when Frank returns to the stage, Jim is still there and asks for a job. Frank agrees, and soon Jim becomes stronger and very adept at riding. One day, Jim happily returns from town to tell Betty, with whom he has fallen in love, that the doctor has told him he no longer has a lung problem. He then asks Betty to marry him, and she agrees, on condition that he enters the upcoming rodeo and win one of the prizes. That same day, Jordon, whose true identity is unknown to Betty, warns her against Jim, then tries to attack her. Jim prevents the attack but incurs Jordon's wrath. On the day of the rodeo, one of Jordon's men puts on a phony badge and "arrests" Jim, then rides out of town with him. As the rodeo starts, Betty and Frank wonder where Jim has gone. Out on the trail, Jim sees the rest of the gang and realizes what has happened. He gets away from them and arrives in time to enter various rodeo events. Also at the rodeo is visiting Sheriff Waddell, who recognizes Jordon and ties him and his men up. At the end of the rodeo, Jim reminds Betty of her promise, saying that he won all of the prizes. Frank then congratulates his future son-in-law and says he won another prize, too.