After cowboy John Weston rides into town and singlehandedly shoots down several payroll bandits, the local marshal offers him a job as a special undercover agent, assigning him to investigate the suspicious activities at a rodeo in nearby Dalton. On his way to Dalton, John notices a band of outlaws descending on a stagecoach and, riding hard, fights off the attackers. Later, Marjorie Carter, a grateful passenger, introduces John to her father, Judge Carter, who offers John a job as deputy sheriff of Dalton, in the hope that he will be able to intimidate the crooked rodeo gang who have convinced the townspeople to sink all of their money into the competition. John declines the offer, saying that he only wants to enter and win the two-day rodeo competition. On the first day of the contest, John bests the betting favorite, outlaw Cheyenne Kent, and infuriates the gang's leader, Barton, who immediately orders Kent and Aurora, a pretty Mexican cohort, to "take care of" John. When Kent and Aurora fail to intimidate John, who is now the odds-on favorite, Barton tempts him with money and "convinces" him to throw the second day of the rodeo. To Barton's displeasure, John wins the rodeo and also discovers the snake poison that Barton had planted in his saddle as revenge. Barton and his men then ride to the town bank where all of the earnings from the rodeo are being stored. Angry at being left behind, Aurora tips off John, who rides to the bank in time to break up the robbery attempt. After a furious chase, John brings down the outlaws and proposes to Marjorie.