Marshal of Cedar Rock

In 1890, U.S. Marshal Allan "Rocky" Lane sets up an easy escape for prisoner Bill Anderson, hoping that Bill will lead him to the money he was convicted of stealing from the Cedar Rock bank. As Rocky secretly follows him, Bill hitches a ride with John Harper, a railroad agent who is en route to the town of Cedar Rock to buy land for a new line. In town, Harper meets with banker Henry Mason, unaware that Mason has been masterminding raids on local ranchers in an effort to drive them away and acquire their land cheaply, then sell it to the railroad for a substantial profit. Before Harper can make an offer to the ranchers, Mason has him abducted and killed. Believing that no one in town has yet seen Harper, Mason hires an outlaw, Paul Jackson, to impersonate him. Shortly after, when Mason is alone, Bill sneaks into his office and tries, at gunpoint, to coerce Mason into confessing to the sheriff that he framed Bill for the bank holdup, but Mason refuses. Pretending to be a drifter who happens to see them through the window, Rocky shoots the gun out of Bill's hand. In gratitude, Mason gives Rocky some of his fancy cigars and sends for the sheriff to arrest Bill. However, Bill escapes when outlaws, who are secretly working for Mason, ride in and terrorize the town. Rocky helps to fight the outlaws and rescues a young woman, Martha Clark, whose grateful uncle, rancher Nugget Clark, offers Rocky a job on his ranch. Nugget, who has suffered heavy losses from cattle raids and the bank robbery, meets with Mason to ask for a loan. Mason, however, claims that the bank has also suffered from the robbery and tells Nugget that he and the other ranchers should sell out to a real estate company that has already offered to buy land, without revealing that he owns the company. Later, Mason orders his men to stake out Nugget's ranch and kill Rocky, whom he suspects overheard more than he admits, and Bill, who is Martha's sweetheart and will show up to visit her. As Mason predicted, Bill sneaks to the Clark ranch, followed by Rocky, who pretends to be interested in the job Nugget offered. However, when he realizes that Bill has slipped out through the back, Rocky chases him, but both are ambushed by the thugs. Bill again escapes, and Rocky, after killing one of the thugs, finds one of Mason's cigars on the body. After returning to the Clark ranch, Rocky admits to Nugget and Martha that he believes in Bill's innocence and Mason's guilt, but needs more evidence for the court, so they arrange for him to work as a ranchhand while he gathers proof. The next day, Jackson appears at the Clark ranch posing as Harper, and as he offers to buy their land for half of the amount that the real estate company offered, Rocky notices that Jackson has one of Mason's cigars. Nugget and Martha go to the bank to accept the real estate company's offer, and arrive to find Bill again trying to get Mason to confess to the sheriff. Using the distraction of their arrival, Mason overtakes Bill, and Rocky then offers to deliver him to the sheriff. Instead, once outside, Rocky identifies himself as a lawman to Bill, who then tells him that the "Harper" who showed up at the Clark ranch was not the man he met on his way to town. Unknown to them, Jackson is eavesdropping and reports to Mason that Rocky is a marshal. Mason instructs Jackson to wait in his hotel room for Rocky and then sends his thugs to abduct the Clarks. After sending a telegram to the railroad company asking for a description of the real Harper, Rocky and Bill proceed to Jackson's hotel room to wait for the railroad's response. As instructed by Mason, Jackson stalls, but later tells them that the Clarks have been abducted and taken to a barn. When the three proceed there, Mason and his thugs are waiting and a gunfight commences. Rocky and Bill subdue the thugs, and Rocky apprehends Mason. Later Mason confesses to his crimes, and Nugget and the other ranchers learn that the railroad is offering them a generous sum for their land. Rocky and Bill return to the penitentiary, but as Mason has confessed, Rocky expects that Bill will soon be released to the waiting Martha.