Plot

Utilizing a plot that Columbia had used twice before with Buck Jones and again with Charles Starrett, this version shifts the state of the Rangers from Texas to Arizona, where Ranger Rod Saunders is killed by a band of outlaws and his brother Ranger Lucky Saunders swears to avenge his death. The outlaws, led secretly by town businessman Anse Rankin, have been terrorizing the town and the citizens. Rankin accuses the Rangers of being unable to cope with the situation and organizes a Vigilante Defense League, with himself as the head and with the intent of forcing the ranchers to pay tribute for protection against his own gang. Lucky, working with Captain Randall, resigns in disgrace from the Rangers and pretends to go over to the side of the outlaws.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

When Rangers Lucky and his brother chase outlaws, the brother is killed. To find the killer Lucky quits the Rangers and robs the bank. This gets him into the outlaw gang where he learns of their next raid. Sneaking out at night he tells his girl friend who must now convince the Sheriff that Lucky is not an outlaw and that he must sent his men out to catch the gang.—Maurice VanAuken <vanauken@comcast.net>

When his younger brother Rod is killed by a gang of outlaws that has been terrorizing the citizens of Painted Ridge, Arizona, Ranger Lucky Saunders vows to avenge his death. Suspecting that the outlaws will try to rob a stagecoach carrying a shipment of gold, Lucky and his friend, Cannonball Taylor, ride out to protect the stage. Although they thwart the robbery, the bandits escape. Impatient with the Rangers' inability to vanquish the outlaws, Anse Rankin, the owner of the Rankin Mining Equipment Company and a leading Painted Ridge citizen, urges the organization of a Citizen's Defense League. Rankin's criticisms of the Rangers irks the hot-tempered Lucky, who begins to argue with him. Later, when Captain Randall, Lucky's commanding officer, chides him for failing to apprehend the criminals, Lucky loses his temper and resigns. On the day that the townsfolk gather to found the Defense League, Lucky steals a bag of gold from the Cattlemen's Association, and a posse, headed by Rankin and Drag, an outlaw covertly working for Rankin, pursue him. After Drag corners Lucky, the ex-Ranger asks to join the gang, and so Drag takes him to the hideout, where Lucky discovers that Rankin is their leader. When Lucky learns that the gang plans to rustle a large herd of cattle belonging to Lafe Andrews, the father of his sweetheart Jane, Lucky sneaks out of the hideout and warns Jane of the plot. The next day, when the outlaws approach the herd, they are greeted by the waiting Rangers. Realizing that they have been double-crossed by Lucky, Drag races to warn Rankin. Lucky follows him to Rankin's office, and when Rankin realizes that he is trapped, he tells Lucky that Drag killed his brother. After Lucky shoots Drag, Rankin grabs a bag of money and runs out of the building, directly into the path of a team of horses, and is trampled to death. Their mission finally accomplished, Randall takes a well-earned vacation and Lucky is appointed as interim head of the Rangers.