Last of the Wild Horses

Duke Barnum spots three men chasing a small horse thief outside Jacksonville, Oregon, and rides in to stop them. Hank fires a shot at Duke, but Duke shoots Hank in the arm and takes control of the situation. He forces the men to take off their boots and walk barefoot back to their destination.

The three barefoot men work for the Double C Ranch, and Duke travels to the ranch to have his horse reshod. There, he learns that Charlie Cooper is aggressively pushing out local ranchers and depleting the wild horse herds.

The town sheriff, riding by, hears about the trouble and the barefoot men’s account of what happened with Duke. He brings Duke into town for questioning.

Remedy and Terry come to Duke’s aid, providing false alibis so the sheriff allows them to take Duke into custody. Duke is slated to work as an extra hand on Remedy’s ranch.

At Remedy’s ranch, the eccentric healer demonstrates his remedy by performing a dramatic tooth extraction on Curly. The act adds an odd, memorable note amid the town’s troubles. The moment shows Remedy’s over-the-top confidence in his craft.

Jane Cooper convinces her father, Charlie, to stop aggressively pursuing horses and leave the wild herds alone for a full year. He reluctantly agrees to ease up on taking horses from the range.

Riley, the ranch’s schemer, orders hands to roundup more horses and leaves a Double C branding iron on the scene. The move heightens the tension and undermines Charlie’s reforms.

Riley goes to the sheriff and demands that all Double C men under his control be made deputies; the sheriff agrees. The new deputies raid horses from wild herds and other local ranches alike.

Charlie Cooper learns of the deception and confronts the Double C hands. Riley chokes Charlie to death with Duke’s bandana, escalating the conflict to a deadly climax.

The sheriff arrests Duke for murder and a sensational town trial ensues. Based on testimony from Riley and others, Duke is found guilty.

Terry provides a gun to Duke, enabling him to escape the courtroom and go into hiding.

Remedy receives mail delivered to the Double C Ranch: a blackmail note to Riley from Hank, demanding money or exposing who killed Charlie. Remedy reads it and accidentally drops the envelope when he realizes its contents.

Riley recognizes the blackmail letter and shoots Remedy as Remedy crosses a river. Remedy survives the attack, and his survival fuels the plan to bring Riley down.

Remedy, still alive, delivers the wet letter to Duke at his hideout, prompting Duke to pursue Riley and seek justice for Charlie.

Duke and Riley fight in a brutal hayloft battle, and both tumble to the ground. The film closes with an epilogue where Remedy reveals a mail-based art course and a curious remark from Curly about a mailbox model.