Arizona Territory

Above an isolated trail in Arizona, a man lies in wait as a wagon approaches, and then opens fire. The wagon's horses are galloping out of control when prospector Jeff Malloy overtakes the wagon and assists the wounded driver, Doris Devin, who owns the trading post off the Indian reservation. Doris tells Jeff that her Indian driver was killed by an unknown assailant the previous week, and he offers to accompany her back to town. Meanwhile, at the trading post, Steve, a cowhand, has been minding the store for Doris' uncle, Otis Kilborn, the man who fired at Doris on the road. When Doris and Jeff arrive at the trading post, Kilborn tries to persuade his niece to quit the business and move East, but she refuses. Kilborn then hires Steve to keep an eye on Jeff, instructing him to kill Jeff if he comes around again. Jeff goes into town to cash in some gold nuggets, and there encounters his old friend, Luke Watson, a U.S. Marshal. Luke tells Jeff that he is investigating a counterfeiting ring that he believes is operated by Kilborn, who recently served time for counterfeiting but never relinquished the plates he used to print the money. Jeff takes Luke to the trading post, where Doris is having coffee with her suitor, Indian agent Greg Lance, and convinces Doris to hire Luke as her new driver. Later, at a pottery shop in the Indian village, Greg confronts Kilborn about the murder of the Indian driver and the attack on Doris. Kilborn reminds Greg that the trading post is essential to their counterfeiting operation, pointing out that only he knows where the plates are hidden. On the trail outside of town, Steve, who has followed Jeff from the trading post, opens fire, but Jeff kills him and hides the body in a shack, planning to keep it there until the sheriff returns to town. The next day, while mending a loose button on her uncle's jacket, Doris is amazed to find a large packet of cash in one of the pockets. Later, Greg follows Jeff out of town and discovers Steve's body in the shack. Jeff later calls on Doris and offers to buy the trading post, and she agrees to think about it. Meanwhile, at the pottery shop, Greg tells Kilborn about Steve, and after Luke drives off with a wagon full of pottery to be shipped to Eastern cities, they send Joe, their half-Indian assistant, after him. Joe ambushes Luke on the trail, but Luke shoots him, then discovers a wad of counterfeit money in a broken piece of pottery, concealed in a false bottom. Back at the trading post, Jeff overhears Greg telling Doris that Jeff is responsible for the death of her driver and the attempt on her life. Jeff confronts Greg, and while the two men are fighting, Doris rides off and finds Luke, instructing him to go to the post while she goes to the pottery shop. Luke arrives just as Jeff knocks Greg out, and they race to the pottery shop in time to rescue Doris. Jeff captures Kilborn, and Luke takes the counterfeiters, and the plates, to jail. Jeff bids goodbye to Doris, promising to return someday.