The Fighting Frontiersman

A prospector in the old west stumbles upon a fortune in gold left behind by Santa Ana's army. Worried that it might be stolen from him, it is recommended that the prospector hire Steve Reynolds, a.k.a. The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett, The Mask of Fu Manchu), to help protect the gold. Unfortunately, the prospector is kidnapped by the dangerous John Munro (Robert Filmer, The El Paso Kid) and his gang. It is up to Reynolds and his partner, Smiley (Smiley Burnette, Tumbling Tumbleweeds), to save the prospector and keep the gold from Munro.

A grizzled old prospector literally stumbles over General Santa Ana's missing payroll treasure in this average "Durango Kid" Western from Columbia Pictures. Cimarron Dobbs (Emmett Lynn), who has been grubstaked by Rangers Steve Reynolds (Charles Starrett) and Smiley Burnette, soon finds himself in the clutches of greedy saloon proprietor John Munro (Robert Filmer) and his accomplice, saloon belle Dixie King (Helen Mowery), who will stop at nothing, including depriving the old man of water, to get hold of the treasure. Enter Steve Reynolds' alter ego, the Durango Kid, who not only manages to save Cimarron and find the treasure but also donates the loot to Munro's victims, the local farmers. Smiley Burnette performs his usual pratfalls and sings his own "Swamp Woman Blues", "Don't Be Mad at Me" and "Coyote Chorus", while the congregation known as Hank Newman and the Georgia Crackers takes care of Bob Newman's "Following the Trail".