Steve Llewellyn hung up his guns after killing a man in self-defense, left Willow Creek and went on the drift for five years. Now he’s back. And the bad blood stirred up by his return and the violence caused by a cattleman’s grab for all the good grasslands mean Steve must strap on his sidearms again. Rod Cameron -- who became a marquee draw with a pair of espionage serials in the 1940s and went on to establish himself as a popular cowboy star -- makes Steve a hero to reckon with in Short Grass, one of the actor’s 10 films with busy shoot-‘em-up director Lesley Selander. Johnny Mack Brown, a sagebrush stalwart in his own right, plays the marshal who allies with Steve. Adding to the Western pedigree is costar Cathy Downs, who plays the title role in the iconic My Darling Clementine. Buffs will note other familiar faces, including Alan Hale, Jr., well remembered as the skipper who takes a “three-hour tour” to Gilligan’s Island.
A cowpuncher by the name of Whistling Dan is adopted by a rancher, Joe Cumberland (James O. Barrows). His daughter, Kate is immediately attracted to Dan, but Cumberland discourages the union since he thinks the young man is too wild for her.
The strip is being opened to settlers and as everyone heads for the starting line, Thad and his outlaw gang are ready. Learning Rankin has a treasure map, Thad steals it. When Breezy attempts to recover the map he is captured by Thad. With Breezy tied up, Thad heads out to claim the treasure plot.
Bill Ramsbottom sells his English pub and drags his family off to Canada where he has inherited a ranch from his grandfather Wild Bill Ramsbottom. He ends up tangling with outlaw Black Jake, an Indian chief Blue Eagle, and the local law.
Gold miner Jim Golden is in love with Miss Dot, the local postmistress, but he has a reputation for being somewhat lazy and shiftless. One day he finds a baby that had been abandoned by local Indians, adopts it, and begins to work his claim again. Parky, a local thief and swindler, finds out that Jim has finally struck gold, and schemes to trick Jim out of his claim and kidnap Miss Dot while he's at it.
Tim MacGregor, unscrupulous lumber operator, obtains by bribery a contract to cut a vast quantity of timber from land owned by Kay Handley, rich débutante. When Dick O'Hara, forestry inspector, demands a postponement, MacGrgeor refuses and sends his henchman, Jean Collet, to obtain the services of the famous "bull-of-the-woods" Andy Jensen and his partner "Lucky." Kay arrives and gives her permission to cut the timber, defying Dick. Dick, with his two assistants, Withers and "Tex," begins a survey of the timber stand. When Dick and Tex finally reveal MacGrgeor as a crook, Collet is sent to kill "Tex" and obtain the reports. A fight ensues and "Lucky" is killed by one of Collet's flying knives. Kay then admits that Dick is right and helps him trap Collet. Dick and Andy force a confession from Collet and MacGregor is exposed.
While on the run, Erwan, a young defector, meets Celia, a lost soul who joins him in his getaway. They are both trailed by an old man, Institoris, sent by the system to track them down and seize them, dead or alive.
In the village of Rockspring, the election of "little sheriff" is taking place, whereby a child is chosen to assist the local sheriff for a week. When a young girl is kidnapped, the sheriff sets off to rescue her, and the children organize their own search party to free their friend.
Rigby, Larribee, and Grant each have one third of Bill Joyce's map locating his gold mine. The three plus Joyce's sister Helen head for the mine. An accident with a runaway horse carrying supplies leaves them stranded in the desert with very little water.
A couple of drifters seeking shelter from a blizzard. In a mountain cabin, they find the body of an old friend and a note that blames his death on the Border Blackbirds, a notorious gang operating on the border of Canada.
Neil Allison is tricked into assaying some false samples from a young crook's mine. When Neil sees that he has been duped, a quarrel ensues, and Jim Starke, the youth, is stabbed by an unknown assassin. Neil runs away thinking he has committed murder and becomes the unwitting partner of the victim's father.
San Antonio Rose is an amiably wacky mini-musical evenly divided between its "official" stars, The Merry Macs, and a strong cast of supporting clowns. Robert Paige plays roadhouse operator Con Conway, whose establishment is in danger of being squeezed out by its competition. Stranded entertainers Hope Holloway (Jane Frazee) and Gabby Trent (Eve Arden) decide to revivify Conway's establishment by staging an energetic floor show built around the talented Merry Macs. A rival club owner dispatches his two top hooligans Jigsaw Kennedy (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Benny the Bounce (Shemp Howard) to wreck Conway's club by posing as waiters, but the two stupes are easily cowed into submission--by the leading ladies!
A young cowhand befriends a disreputable gambler and pulls him out of some trouble. Hoping to square things with his new friend, the gambler seeks to warn him about the cowhand's fiancée, about whom the gambler knows some unsavory details.
John Wesley Pringle, adventurer at large, returns home after making his strike and finds his old girl friend, Stella, engaged to Christopher Foy, who is running for sheriff. Pringle foils an attempt by incumbent sheriff Matt Lisner to kill Foy, but when Foy is accused of a murder, Pringle, in a clever ruse, captures Foy, holds the posse at gunpoint, and then releases him, explaining his motive.
An evil gang is involved in both cattle rustling and the robbing of stagecoaches. Hoppy must stop them without help from the sheriff who turns out be a major outlaw himself.