Wild Horse Mesa

Confident they know the location of a herd of wild horses, Pop Melhern and his daughter Sue have hired a group of cowboys to help them round up the animals. When their search yields nothing, cowboy Hod Slack demands that Pop pay him and the other men immediately, but Dave Jordan, a hand who is in love with Sue, rallies the men to continue. Dave and his sidekick, Chito Rafferty, then stumble on the powerful stallion Panquich, who leads them to the rest of the enormous herd. As the cowboys are rounding up the horses, rival horse trader Jim Horn, who is working for businessman Jay Olmstead, arrives with his men. Horn tries to steal the horses at gunpoint, but loses the ensuing fight. The next morning, Slack traps Panquich in a makeshift barb-wire corral. Seeing the proud animal torn by the wire, an enraged Dave brawls with Slack, who is then fired by Pop. After Slack vows revenge, Dave comforts Panquich and prepares to break him. Horn, meanwhile, reports Pop's find to Olmstead, and the crooked Olmstead devises a plan whereby he can steal Pop's horses. He offers Pop $32,000 for the herd, then, while accompanying him back to the horse camp, murders him with the butt of his gun and steals his cash. Before Olmstead can flee, Slack, who has been following him from town, appears and blackmails him into making him his partner. Back at the horse camp, Sue realizes that Panquich cannot be tamed by Dave and sets him free. Olmstead then rides up and, presenting his bill of sale, demands the horses. Suspicious of Olmstead, Dave refuses to turn over the herd until he hears from Pop. Dave and Chito soon find Pop's abandoned body and also discover a button lying nearby that came from a gun handle. Sure that the button fits in the murder weapon, Dave rides to town and confronts Horn and Slack in the saloon. An angry Olmstead arrives with the marshal, who, while sympathetic to Dave's position, insists that he needs more evidence against Olmstead. Determined to obtain that evidence, Dave breaks into Olmstead's office that night and is discovered by the businessman. During the ensuing scuffle, Dave retrieves Olmstead's gun and knocks his foe unconscious. After Dave fits the button into the butt of Olmstead's gun, he tells Sue that he has found her father's killer. At the same time, however, Slack, who has witnessed the fight, tells Olmstead that he should flee town immediately and then tricks him into opening his safe. Slack then kills Olmstead and steals his money. The next morning, the marshal arrests Dave for Olmstead's murder, but Chito, aware that Slack is planning to raid the camp, soon breaks Dave out of jail. Dave and Chito arrive at the camp in time to warn Sue and her cowboys, and together they confront Slack and his gun-wielding gang. After the ensuing gunfight reaches an impasse, Slack tries to charge Sue and Dave, but Dave counters by causing the herd to stampede. Panquitch then appears and starts to trample the terrified Slack. The subdued Slack is arrested by the marshal, who has since found out that Dave's gun did not kill Olmstead, and Sue and Dave's happy future is finally assured. As Sue and Dave watch, Panquitch returns to the wilderness.