Bill Bradley, who owns a small house and a one-horse corral in the hills, saves the lives of Betty Brent and her brother Mike from a forest fire in which their mother has perished. He decides to take care of them. When word spreads that Betty is actually 18, a committee of citizens, headed by Cliff Barrowes, whose father holds a mortgage on Bill's property, calls to protest; the sheriff's wife offers the children a home; and soon after, Cliff begins to woo the girl. Bill, meanwhile, is forcibly held by a trio of outlaws about to flee across the border.

"Side Show" Saunders gains the respect of shopowner Holly Farrell and the townsfolk when he gives up entertaining with his trick horse and dog and goes to work in the general store.

While Pop Morton, a rancher, is being sworn in as deputy sheriff, his daughter Molly, to escape the unwelcome attentions of usurer Blair Hatley (who holds the mortgage on their ranch), meets Art Downs. Art is mistaken by Steve Baird, one of Hatley's henchmen, for "The Terror," a notorious Arizona bandit, and uses this mistake as an excuse to invade their stronghold, where he finds Molly--kidnaped by the rustlers.