Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.
A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.
Rancher Clay Hardin arrives in San Antonio to search for and capture Roy Stuart, notorious leader of a gang of cattle rustlers. The vicious outlaw is indeed in the Texan town, intent on winning the affections of a beautiful chanteuse named Jeanne Starr. When the lovely lady meets and falls in love with the charismatic Hardin, the stakes for both men become higher.
Originally written as a stage vehicle for corpulent character actor Macklyn Arbuckle, Ernest Day's The Roundup was first filmed in 1920 with Fatty Arbuckle (no relation) in the lead. By the time the film was remade in 1941, Arbuckle's character, a roly-poly frontier sheriff named Slim (!), was refashioned as a supporting role, with Jack Benny's radio announcer Don Wilson essaying the part. The plot, however, remained fairly intact: Upon hearing that her fiance Greg (Preston Foster) has been killed, Janet (Patricia Morison) agrees to marry rancher Steve (Richard Dix) on the rebound. On the day of the wedding, who should show up but Greg, determined to raise as much Hell as humanly possible
US marshal Len Merrick saves Tim Keith from lynching at the hands of the Roden clan, and hopes to get him to Santa Loma for trial. Vindictive Ned Roden, whose son Ed was killed, still wants personal revenge, and Tim would like to escape before Ned catches up with him again. Can the marshal make it across the desert with Tim and his daughter? Even if he makes it, will justice be served?
Dare Rudd takes a shine to his cattleman cousin Tom's girlfriend who asks Tom to hire Dare to head the big cattle drive. Dare loses the money for the drive to cardsharps, but Tom wins it back, but Dare must save Tom's life.
Gene and Frog, out to stop a bunch of cattle rustlers, assume the identities of what they believe to be dead bandits, which soon gets them in big trouble.
A sheriff tracking a gang of rustlers discovers that one of them is the brother of his fiance.
Cowboy infiltrates an outlaw gang to expose their rackets, but after he's ordered to kidnap a young girl, the gang finds out who he really is.
A caravan of settlers is arriving and the ranchers intend to keep them out. It looks like a range war but Sheriff Jim gets the ranchers to accept the settlers. Kohler re-ignites the feud by making settler Winters appear to be a rustler and then by killing Winter's son. Once more the two sides appear headed for a war and Jim is caught in the middle.
Russell Hayden, taking a break from playing Hopalong Cassidy pictures, stars as Renn Frayne, a college-educated youth heading westward who finds more than he bargained for. Following a terrifying run-in with an outlaw gang, Frayne aligns himself with the heroine Holly Ripple (Jean Parker), whose father's cattle ranch is in danger of falling into the hands of the villains. Victor Jory as Malcolm Lascallie, the wily gambler,
Texas Ranger Ranny Maitland's father is feuding with his neighbor Lockhart. Pretending to be on Lockhart's side in the feud, Ranny goes to investigate. Meanwhile is father is murdered and Lockhart arrested.
Protecting himself in an attack by rustlers, Rancher Steve Holden believes he has killed one of the attackers, young Bud Mathews, who in reality has warned Holden of the rustlers' approach. Unaware that Mathews was actually killed by rustler boss Cass Barton, Holden heads out to Mathews' home town where he plans to tell the boy's family of his death but instead uncovers a plan by a local businessman to force Mathews' father out of his ranch.
Billy Carson is accused of the crimes committed by his dead-ringer, outlaw cousin Jim Slade, and barely escapes a lynching. With the aid of his pal Fuzzy Jones, Billy catches up with his cousin and clears his own name.
The Kid and his pals are horse thieves wanted by the law. As he takes a horse from Jan Walton she makes him promise to bring it back.
After being hit by rustlers, a group of Montana ranchers asks the governor to send state rangers for protection. State Ranger Rocky Lane becomes involved in a mystery surrounding a gang of horse rustlers and a young rancher who is blamed falsely for a killing. Lane helps uncover the real killers and unmasks the ringleader of the rustlers.
A rustler's son (Roy Rogers) courts a rancher's daughter (Mary Hart) during a range war.
For revenge the outlaw Morgan steals the Carruthers young son. Seventeen years later Carruthers arrives in the valley where Morgan, his gang, and the now grown Bob hide. After Morgan shoots Tracy, he tells Bob that Carruthers did it and sends Bob out after him. But unknown to Bob, Morgan has put blanks in his gun.
When a woman turns outlaw, she is suspected of murder.
Steve Beaumont, an operative for the Cattleman's Protective Association, is assigned the difficult task of breaking up a murderous gang of rustlers led by Ed Brock and Strang. He takes Sheriff Webb, Judge Baxter, and rancher Ann Houston into his confidence, and works his way into the rustler stronghold and confidence by "turning rustler" himself.