Wallace Beery, in his final film, plays a bandit in this period drama set in Colonial America.

Marshall Dan Mitchell, who is the law in Abilene, has the job of keeping peace between two groups. For a long time, the town had been divided, with the cattlemen and cowboys having one end of town to themselves, while townspeople occupied the other end. Mitchell liked it this way, it made things easier for him, and kept problems from arising between the two factions. However…

An ex-convict drifter and his flawed young partner are made sheriff and deputy of a Western town.

Oklahoma outlaw Belle Starr meets the Dalton gang when rescued from lynching by Bob Dalton, who falls for her. So do gang member Mac and wealthy saloon owner Tom Bradfield, who's enlisted in a bankers' scheme to trap the Daltons. Discord among the gang and Bradfield's ambivalence complicates things, as Belle demonstrates her prowess with shootin' irons and horses, and as a surprisingly racy saloon entertainer.

A former boxer turned taxi driver earns the scorn of his nagging wife and gets mixed up with jewel thieves.

A rancher's foreman schemes against him on a cattle drive from Oregon to Wyoming.

A general-store keeper scares off bank robbers with a lucky shot, but they come back.

The secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.

Jim Slater's father (whom he never knew) died in the Apache ambush at Gila Valley, and Jim is searching for the one survivor, who supposedly went for help but disappeared with a lot of gold. In the process, he gets several people gunning for him, and he keeps meeting liberated woman Karyl Orton, who may be on a similar mission. Renewed Apache hostilities and an impending range war provide complications.

Dick Tracy investigates the theft of a fortune of fur coats, a possible insurance swindle and several murders, all linked to a huge thug who wears a hook in place of his right hand.