If you're not familiar with screen cowboy Eddie Dean, here's an interesting bit of trivia. In the opening credits for this film, Dean is co-billed with 'His Horse Copper', a beautiful dark horse with a blonde mane and tail. This was common for other cowboy stars like Roy Rogers (Trigger) and Gene Autry (Champion), but Dean had a peculiar quirk about not wanting to be upstaged by an individual animal. So he actually rode four different horses in his films, and in another picture that came out the same year, "The Tioga Kid", you'll note that his co-star in that one was 'His Horse Flash'. For the record, Dean's other steeds were War Paint and White Cloud.
As for the story here, it's a pretty standard affair pitting homesteaders versus cattle ranchers, but with a twist. Between the two factions is villain Thayer (Terry Frost) playing both sides against each other so he can rustle the ranchers' cattle while the parties shoot it out with each other. At one point Thayer manages to get government agent Dean and partner Jebby Sawyer (Buster Slaven) sentenced to hang for the non-murder of Lance King (George Chesebro)! That was a head scratcher, but fortunately the story allowed Dean and his buddy to move on without facing a noose.
A regular Dean saddle pal was also on hand here, but did you notice that Roscoe Ates' name changed from Toby to Soapy about mid-way through the picture? You have to wonder why no one noticed that, or if they did why they didn't bother to fix it. Then again, these flicks were made on the cheap and re-shooting a scene would have cost a few more bucks than a company like PRC would be willing to spend.
Other regulars here include Jennifer Holt who appeared in a number of Dean's films, along with Chesebro and Lane Bradford, a couple of guys who were all over the place back during the era. In the final dust up with Thayer and the rest of his henchmen, Dean and the homesteaders set things right to clear his name of involvement in the Lance King shooting, but did you notice? When all was said and done, nothing was really resolved between the cattle men and the homesteaders. How's that for sleight of hand?
As for the story here, it's a pretty standard affair pitting homesteaders versus cattle ranchers, but with a twist. Between the two factions is villain Thayer (Terry Frost) playing both sides against each other so he can rustle the ranchers' cattle while the parties shoot it out with each other. At one point Thayer manages to get government agent Dean and partner Jebby Sawyer (Buster Slaven) sentenced to hang for the non-murder of Lance King (George Chesebro)! That was a head scratcher, but fortunately the story allowed Dean and his buddy to move on without facing a noose.
A regular Dean saddle pal was also on hand here, but did you notice that Roscoe Ates' name changed from Toby to Soapy about mid-way through the picture? You have to wonder why no one noticed that, or if they did why they didn't bother to fix it. Then again, these flicks were made on the cheap and re-shooting a scene would have cost a few more bucks than a company like PRC would be willing to spend.
Other regulars here include Jennifer Holt who appeared in a number of Dean's films, along with Chesebro and Lane Bradford, a couple of guys who were all over the place back during the era. In the final dust up with Thayer and the rest of his henchmen, Dean and the homesteaders set things right to clear his name of involvement in the Lance King shooting, but did you notice? When all was said and done, nothing was really resolved between the cattle men and the homesteaders. How's that for sleight of hand?
