When the emergence of the telegraph makes their jobs as Pony Express riders obsolete, cowboys John Blair (John Wayne) and Larry Adams (Lane Chandler) hastily purchase a stagecoach line operating out of Crescent City, Calif., unaware that the place is essentially a ghost town. The congenial mayor, Rocky (Lew Kelly), convinces John to compete in a horse race against Drake (Douglas Cosgrove), the man who sold them the bum deal, for a coveted government contract in postal delivery.