West of Nevada

Jim Lloyd and his friend, Walla Walla Wiggins, rescue Milt Haldain and Bald Eagle when they are attacked by a gang of bandits. Jim tends to Bald Eagle's gunshot wound, then he and Walla Walla accompany the two men to Haldain's trading post, where they meet Haldain's daughter Helen and her friend, Rose Gilbury. Haldain tells Jim that he is a taxidermist, and his wagon does contain stuffed specimens, but when Jim and Walla Walla carry them inside, they discover that the specimens are too heavy to be what they seem. Meanwhile, Slade Sangree, the leader of the gang that attacked Haldain, informs banker Steven Cutting that Haldain and the gold he was carrying got away. Cutting tells Slade that he has embezzled $20,000 of bank funds and therefore needs the gold immediately. Slade promises to get it and leaves, after which Jim arrives to pick up the mail sent to him care of the bank. He reads a letter from his father, who tells him that Haldain is working a gold mine with the local Indians, and that they are in danger from claim jumpers. Jim finds Walla Walla, and as they are riding, they see Slade and his gang, who have taken Bald Eagle prisoner and are questioning him. Slade frees Bald Eagle after he refuses to work for him, and soon after, Jim and Walla Walla tangle with Slade's gang and best them. Sometime later, Cutting steams open another letter from Jim's father, who informs Jim that Cutting is under federal investigation. Cutting substitutes that letter with one intimating that Jim is a claim jumper and shows the fake letter to Helen, who panics and rides to Haldain's hideout to warn him. At the hideout, Slade's gang has already taken Haldain and Bald Eagle prisoner when Helen and Rose arrive. Cutting arrives as well, on the pretense of wanting to help Helen, and Slade pretends to take him prisoner after Helen writes him a $20,000 ransom check. Cutting orders Slade to follow Haldain and the others to their mine while he goes to the bank and cashes the check, after which Jim and Walla Walla arrive at the now-empty hideout. Slade's gang rob Haldain and the others of the gold they have just mined, and the theft is witnessed by Jim and Walla Walla. After freeing Haldain, Helen and the others, Jim explains that he is really Jim Carden, son of Senator Carden, and is there on behalf of his father to protect the Indians and capture Cutting. Just then, Slade, Cutting and more of their gang return to finish off the Haldains. While the Indian miners ride after the gang, Walla Walla gets Cutting and Jim goes after Slade. Jim makes Cutting tell Helen the truth about the phony letter and she happily apologizes to Jim.