Hurricane Smith

Rodeo performer Bill "Hurricane" Smith is instantly smitten by newspaper reporter Joan Blair when she joins the rodeo circuit in search of a story. On her last night with the rodeo, Hurricane tells Joan of his feelings, and she falls in love with him, too. She agrees to marry him, but must return to Chicago to close her series on the rodeo circuit. After Hurricane puts her on the train, he encounters criminals "Eggs" Bonelli and Sam Carson as they are robbing a train car of $200,000. Carson, whose face bears a scar identical to one on Hurricane's face, knocks out the cowboy, then attacks conductor Pop Wessell while escaping with the money. When Hurricane regains consciousness, Pop, identifies him as the thief because of his scar, then dies. Unwilling to involve Joan, even though she could provide him with an alibi, Hurricane is silent at his subsequent trial and is convicted and sentenced to death. Joan rushes to his side after learning of his plight, but the sweethearts are separated when Hurricane boards the train taking him to prison. On the train, he again meets Bonelli and Carson, and after escaping from his guards, Hurricane confronts Carson. Terrified, Carson grabs his valise, which contains the loot, and jumps off, but is killed by an oncoming train. Hurricane takes the valise and escapes, after which Carson's body is found and presumed to be Hurricane's. The cowboy then finds Joan and confesses all to her, but she is determined to stick by him and agrees to accompany him on his flight West. They are married and travel to the ghost town of Sundown, which is the home of lawyer Robert Ingersoll Reed. Delighted to have company, Reed convinces them to stay and invest in Sundown, which he feels can be prosperous once again with proper irrigation. Hurricane and Joan invest the $200,000 wisely, and over the next four years, their own happiness increases as the town grows. The citizens regard Hurricane highly, although he tells them that the money has come from a mysterious benefactor named "Colonel Partridge." Hurricane and Joan's stability is shaken, however, by the unexpected arrival of Bonelli, who recognizes Hurricane immediately. Bonelli threatens to expose Hurricane's past if he is not given a share of the train robbery loot, and is infuriated when Hurricane reveals that he and Joan gave it back to the bank from which it was robbed. Bonelli then draws a gun on Hurricane but is shot by Joan. Hurricane is ready to confess to the sheriff, but Reed, who knows the truth about his past, tells the townspeople that the mysterious colonel came to visit Sundown, killed Bonelli in self-defense and fled. Hurricane and Joan are then free to continue their good works and happy life together.