Rough Riding Ranger

Major Wright of the border patrol promises Mexican official Lieutenant Rodriguez that his government will cooperate in catching a ring of smugglers who have been smuggling silk across the border. Wright assures Rodriguez that he has his best man, ranger Corporal Daniels, working undercover on the case. As Daniels is riding to the town where he will investigate, trouble brews in the town saloon. "Slim" and "Draw," two of the smugglers working for the ringleaders, "Ram" Hansen and "Cinch" Clemons, become involved in a fight in which Draw breaks Slim's arm. Hansen castigates Draw for his hasty action, because Slim is the sharpshooter who shoots the carrier pigeons belonging to Bobby Francis, the nephew of Clemons' boss, Dorothy White. Bobby uses his pigeons to communicate with a former schoolmate who has moved to Mexico, but the gang in Mexico appropriates the birds, ties their own messages to them and then sends them back to the U.S. During their journey, Slim shoots them before Bobby receives them, and the smugglers get the messages concerning their next operation. Daniels eavesdrops as Hansen and Draw are discussing this, and he pretends to be a drunken outlaw named the Tombstone Kid when he then enters the saloon. Daniels is loud and quarrelsome, and impresses Hansen with his shooting ability. Wanting to use Daniels to shoot the next pigeon, Hansen promises him a good job and takes him to Dorothy's oil company office, where she is concerned about a threatening letter she has just received. Unknown to Dorothy, the mysterious letters are from Hansen and Clemons, who are trying to distract her while they continue their smuggling. Daniels rescues Bobby when he is being dragged by Mrs. Francis' trained horse "Sunday," who has been spooked by gunfire, and Clemons hires him. After a bit of investigating, Daniels learns from Clemons' henchman "Duce" that Hansen wrote the letters, and he also learns about Bobby's pigeons. Soon after, Clemons orders Daniels to shoot a newly arrived pigeon, but Daniels deliberately misses and gets the message after Bobby finds his bird. Daniels sends Mrs. Francis to get the border patrol while he fends off the gang, who now know his true identity. Although she is tied up by Draw, Mrs. Francis escapes when Sunday unties her, and she reaches the other rangers. The reinforcements arrive as Daniels, Dorothy and Bobby are engaged in a fierce gunfight with the gang, and soon all of the smugglers are rounded up. While the admiring Dorothy promises Daniels that she will invite him to Bobby's birthday party, a drunk who has been laboring to repair a broken cuckoo clock finally succeeds in getting it to say "cuckoo" after he smashes it in frustration.