Wondering cowboy Bart Andrews (played by Fred Thompson) gets arrested simply because a crooked sheriff is short on men for his chain gang. A chance visit to a rodeo on the way to jail, gives Bart a chance to demonstrate his bronco-busting skills, which results in the sheriff caving to pressure from a group of cowboys, to allow Bart to work on ranch, rather than joining the road gang. Finding himself in the right place at the right time, Bart is able to prevent the theft of a train full of cattle, but later ends up being accused of killing a station agent when he interrupts the ranch foreman robbing an express office. Bart is eventually able to bring the foreman to justice, and in a surprise twist, it turns out that he was in fact the real owner of the ranch he was working at!