Steve Martin (Charles Starrett) is sent to Wild River to recover stolen gold and finds the town is being terrorized by The Hawk (Clayton Moore) and his outlaw gang. The Hawk attempts to murder Sheriff Jack Mahoney (Jock Mahoney) and is captured and jailed. Steve helps the Hawk break jail and thus makes contact with the bandit gang. He sends a bungling photographer, Smiley Burnette (Smiley Burnette), to warn the sheriff that the gang plan to rob the express office.
