John Wayne is the local sheriff and in his attempt to stop some would be robbers, he believes that he has killed his best friend,, he is very distraught and winds up quitting his job, and becoming a hired ranch hand in the desert, in the meantime , he helps some Indians with their day to life and problems,, George "Gabby Hayes,, plays the old sheriff , who now has to take the job of sheriff since Wayne quit.. Leroy Mason plays the villain as usual, and does a pretty good job with it. as the film moves on , one of the people he is helping a young girl, who he knows very well is the daughter of his friend,, the man who he believes he has killed, will she find out that he had something to do with it,, in the meantime he has to stop some horse thieves, and eventually it will all lead back to who shot his best friend,, and interesting watch,, not a great western,, but not a bad one either,, middle of the road , maybe a little better.

Almost all of the 'Lone Star' westerns have some unique elements that make them worth watching, if not just to see the early John Wayne. As one of the later films in the series, with its large cast, leisurely pace, and more developed scenes with lead and supporting players, it seems more like a western of the forties (of course, without the music sound track), with major portions of it given over to John Wayne's love interest, Lucille Brown, as Beth Matthews.In many of the previous ones the female had little to do, or was reduced to a cypher, and usually, as if by magic, kissed him or ran off with him at the end, hardly ever appearing much in the film or playing off him in very many key scenes.Here the emphasis is quite different.From her first scene facing the camera in a long medium shot and boldly proclaiming herself, she is given a lot of dialog and many scenes with John Wayne, who plays John Higgins, the 'falsely accused' killer of her father (this fact unknown to her until revealed by the villain, Leroy Mason as 'Dixon.') These scenes range from adulation and love, surprise and sadness, to vile contempt and tears -- when she condemns him as a robber, thief, liar and murderer -- and then back to "love in a cabin." No riding off into the sunset here! The movie gives more screen time to the heroine than to the villain! Here the villain, Dixon, is weak and doesn't appear very much. Well, you can't always have both (except in great films, of course!).Unfortunately, the film drags along after Dixon hatches the plot to steal all of Beth's horses. There's no tension or excitement that builds from this point on, even when Higgins captures Dixon, in a rather weak fight. Just a dull, working through of the plot. The first half had the excitement, with Higgins chasing and being pursued by Dixon's 'posse', who rob the 'Stage' (an old Tin Lizzie!).So, finally, I have to give it a four, even though I enjoyed the fact that as a love story, this was one 'Lone Star' that was more fully developed! Side note: We also get to see and hear George Hayes use his 'normal' voice and facial expressions as Sheriff (except for short inter cut scenes with 'Blacksmith Bob')!

Wayne portrays a Texas sheriff at around the turn of the 20th century who is framed for the murder of his best friend. His best friends daughter finds out about what is believed to be The Sherriff's brutal act, yet Wayne finds out the truth and brings the real killers to justice. Kudos to the Duke!

This entry in Wayne's series of Lone Star westerns that he made for Monogram in the 30's is a cut above the average. It has a good plotline and plenty of action crammed into its 51 minute running time.In the early part of the film we see Wayne depart from his usual clean-cut hero image when he thinks that he has killed his best friend. He grows a beard and has a generally unkempt appearance almost foreshadowing a similar appearance at the end of "Three Godfathers" (1948).The film is also enhanced by the appearance of such "B" western stalwarts as LeRoy Mason as the villain and a pre-Gabby George Hayes as the sheriff. There is also an unusually large cast of extras in the "Indians to the rescue" sequence which does not appear to be stock footage. The stunt work (likely coordinated by Yakima Canutt) is also superb.Not a bad way to spend an hour.