The Feud Maker

Rancher Hank Younger visits his nephew Texas Ryan and asks the wild young cowboy to help him fight the homesteading "nesters," who are encroaching on the cattlemen's land. Tex refuses but later changes him mind and journeys to his uncle's ranch. On the way, Tex sees ample evidence of the fierceness of the range war. He goes to the town saloon, where he gets into a fight with Nelson, a homesteader. The fight is broken up by Ben Harbison, a nester seeking a peaceful solution to the range war. Tex then meets Rand Lassiter, who, under the name Ross Landers, headed a gang to which Tex, then an outlaw called the Wind River Kid, belonged. Tex curtly refuses when Lassiter offers to let him in on his latest scheme, fueling the violence between the warring factions and stealing the land of the losers until he controls the range. Tex injures one of Lassiter's men, Pete Crakin, and Harbison reprimands him for adding to the tension, since Pete is a nester. Tex tries to inform the men of Lassiter's true motives, but they believe Lassiter's guise as a peacemaker and refuse to believe Tex. Tex then goes to his uncle's ranch, where he is told by foreman Cowlick Conners that Younger was shot in the back, presumably by a nester. As the new owner of the ranch, Tex leads the men to the edge of his property, which borders on Harbison's. Harbison and his daughter Sally defend their fence, which is keeping Tex's cattle from water, and when Tex sees them he calls off the men. All the men, who accuse Tex of being yellow, quit except for Cowlick, who agrees to help Tex later when they find out that the Harbison homestead is to be raided by cattlemen. The pair warn Harbison and Sally, then help defend their home when the raid begins. Harbison is stunned upon discovering that two of the attackers are his neighbors Pete and Jed Brooks. Tex tells him that Lassiter is behind it all, and he begins the long ride to neighboring Centerville to find a lawman who has not been bought by Lassiter. While Tex is gone, Lassiter calls a meeting of the ranchers to demand that Tex explain why he is helping the nesters. Harbison goes to town, despite Sally's plea to wait for Tex, and he confronts Nelson and Lassiter. Tex returns in time to hear Lassiter pretend to plead for peace while actually inciting more violence. Tex reveals both his and Lassiter's past to the the crowd and Lassiter's plan to steal their land. U. S. Marshal John Kincaid steps forward to arrest Lassiter and his men, and Tex captures Lassiter when he attempts to escape. As the nesters and ranchers make their peace, Tex turns himself in to Kincaid, but Kincaid tells him that he is only arresting federal lawbreakers such as Lassiter. Kincaid then suggests that the town needs a sheriff, and, after the citizens wholeheartedly support Tex's election, Sally congratulates Tex with a kiss.