Upon the conclusion of the Civil War, field correspondent Barry
Conovan and photographer Sam Sawyer of theChicago Daily Herald are
sent by their editor to find General Sam Houston, the missing
one-time president of the old Republic of Texas. On a stagecoach
bound for Huntsville, they meet Jane Baxter Scott (Anne Gwynne), the daughter of
one of Houston's old Confederate comrades.
Along the trail, the
stage comes upon pregnant Sarah Olson, whose husband has just been
killed by outlaw raiders. They stop at a seemingly deserted cabin
so that she may give birth, and there Barry finds a cache of new
rifles. Henry Clay Jackson then arrives at the cabin with a group
of riders and claims to be Jane's fiancé, making suspect her
previous romantic attentions toward Barry.
Later, Barry and Sam
are welcomed upon their arrival in Huntsville by Major Lamphere,
the military governor of the district. There, a homecoming party
is held for Jane, during which her father, Colonel Colbert Scott,
who was thought killed in the war, returns. Meanwhile, the raiders
rob the local bank, and after the banker kills one of the outlaws,
Jackson murders him, then pretends to lead the posse.
One of the
soldiers, however, recognizes Robert Houston Scott, Jane's younger
brother, as one of the raiders. Later that night, Robert sneaks
into the Scott home and tells his father and his aunt, Hattie
Florence, that he is now part of a guerrilla army, lead by
Jackson, which is set on winning back Texas' independence. Jackson
then leads a murderous raid upon the Indian agency run by Luther
Crittenden. Sam tries to photograph the raiders as they make their
escape, but he snaps a picture showing only a right boot and spur.
Jackson later shoots Barry while the newspaperman romances Jane,
causing the southern belle to confess her love for the wounded
man, much to Jackson's horror. Barry recuperates at the Scott
home, but is ordered to leave upon his recovery when he refuses to
support Colbert's anti-American political views. Sam later
recognizes Jackson's spur as the one he had photographed, and he
and Barry are captured by the outlaw gang and taken to their
hideout. T
he egomaniacal Jackson then forces Barry to write
articles about his "patriotic" work, in which Jackson proclaims to
be the next Sam Houston. Barry tries to convince Robert that
Jackson is little more than an opportunistic outlaw, and the lad
finally learns the truth when he overhears Jackson confessing his
true intentions to the reporters. After Robert helps the
newspapermen escape, however, he is killed by Jackson.
Back in
Huntsville, Barry and Sam try to tell Colbert the truth about
Jackson, only to have the outlaw arrive with the murdered Robert,
claiming that he was killed by "the Yanks." It is Jackson,
however, who is arrested by Lamphere for Robert's murder. After
Jackson is convicted of the crime, Barry asks him to confess all,
so that the innocent citizens of Huntsville will not be injured
protecting a false patriot.
Jane pleads with her father to do
likewise, so Colbert seeks guidance at the grave of his old
friend, Sam Houston. As Jackson's execution is about to begin, the
angry townspeople gather, until Colbert arrives in his old
Confederate uniform and calls upon the mob to disperse and accept
being Americans as well as Texans. The cocksure Jackson is then
surprised to see the townspeople turn against him, and is told by
the ghost of Sam Houston that he is about to get what he truly
deserves.
of the American Frontier. Tight script of troubled
days of Texas when the Confederate volunteers return home and find the Union
troops maintaining martial law in the state. Ray Enright generates sweep
to the dramatic panorama which is unfolded at fast pace.
