Law of the Ranger

Gateway Valley is of inestimable value to Bill Nash (John Merton), owner of the local water company and big boss of the town. The valley is land-locked with the exception of a bottle-neck pass, making it idea for the construction of a reservoir by Nash to gain control of all water-rights in the surrounding country. In order to intimidate the settlers, Nash and his gang have secretly carried on a reign of terror ending with the murder of Baldwin, who claimed the bottle-neck property. Crusading newspaper editor Polk (Lafe McKee) and his daughter, Evelyn (Elaine Shepard), have done their best to stir up indignation against Nash, but they are helpless. Nash is in the newspaper office threatening Polk when Bob Allen (Bob Allen) and his partner, Wally Hood (Hal Taliaferro), enter and announce they are strangers looking for a homestead. Polk tells them about the Baldwin property and Nash advises them to keep away. Later, Nash does an about face by urging Allen to stake a claim but doesn't tell him that the claim registrar (Frank Ball) is out of town for two weeks.

Evelyn sets out to obtain aid from the State Rangers---no state mentioned as usual in this series which some sources mislabel as Bob Allen's "Texas Rangers" series---and she is saved from Nash's gang by Allen and Wally, who reveal to her that they are State Rangers working undercover. Evelyn discovers that Nash is going to a neighboring town to file a claim on the Baldwin property. Because a partner must be on the property at the time of filing, Nash sends Henchman Steve (Slim Whitaker) and the rest of the gang to occupy the Baldwin place. Evelyn tips off Allen, he leaves Wally on site as the partner, and chases after Nash to beat him on the claim filing. Steve and his henchmen drive Wally off, and Allen and Nash arrive at the registrar's office at the same time. Now the deal is that the first one back gets the claim, but a partner still has to be on the place. Since Wally isn't there, this doesn't bode well for Allen's bid, but maybe he registered it under another name and maybe Evelyn has been hiding in the right place.