As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
A report reaches the US Army Cavalry that the Apache leader Ulzana has left his reservation with a band of followers. A compassionate young officer, Lieutenant DeBuin, is given a small company to find him and bring him back; accompanying the troop is McIntosh, an experienced scout, and Ke-Ni-Tay, an Apache guide. Ulzana massacres, rapes and loots across the countryside; and as DeBuin encounters the remains of his victims, he is compelled to learn from McIntosh and to confront his own naivity and hidden prejudices.
Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.
On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.
A mysterious outlaw known as the Sidewinder, phantom leader of renegade Ute Indians, terrorizes the people of the Arizona Territory in the 1870s. When rancher Tex McCloud has his place burned out, he vows to find and kill the Sidewinder.
Three years after the end of the Apache wars, peacemaking chief Cochise dies. His elder son Taza shares his ideas, but brother Naiche yearns for war...and for Taza's betrothed, Oona. Naiche loses no time in starting trouble which, thanks to a bigoted cavalry officer, ends with the proud Chiricahua Apaches on a reservation, where they are soon joined by the captured renegade Geronimo, who is all it takes to light the firecracker's fuse...
A government agent ventures west to look into reports that Apaches are behind a recent wave of frontier attacks. Begins to suspect a set-up.
Earp agrees to become marshal and establish order in Tombstone
The U.S. government recognizes land grants made when the West was under Spanish rule. This inspires James Reavis to forge a chain of historical evidence that makes a foundling girl the Baroness of Arizona. Reavis marries the girl and presses his claim to the entire Arizona territory.
Arizona Territory is in the grip of outlaw terror and killer outlaws, secretly organized by Hulon Champion, who covers his power ambitions with the guise of a respectable firearms merchant. Hoping to eradicate the lawlessness plaguing the newspaperman Fred Gately prints a letter asking the president to visit the area. But Fred's killed by secret gang leader Champion, who also plans to assassinate the president. Undercover officer Rocky Lane teams with his assistant, Nugget, and Fred's spunky daughter to combat Champion's head gunslinger.
Gold miner Edd Denmeade loves Lucy Watson, the sister of the official mining claim recorder. Denmeade suspects Watson of killing his father, who after a poker game was shot by a gambler "who shuffles with one hand." The real murderer, Sam Spralls, has convinced Watson that he killed Denmeade and threatens to expose him unless Watson assigns him all the gold claims. Spralls assembles a band of killers to jump the claims when Watson complies. Eventually, Denmeade learns the identity of the killer when he sees Spralls shuffle a deck of cards. He forms a vigilante party and rids the community of Spralls and his gang.
Texas John Slaughter is a peace-loving family man and successful rancher who values his friendship with the Apaches. But when a vengeful Geronimo initiates a violent campaign against the settlers, Slaughter himself must fight-- to maintain peace and honor among the warring groups.
The Arizona Kid (Warner Baxter) carries out his mission as a Robin Hood-type bandit while posing as a wealthy and carefree miner. He falls for an eastern girl, Virginia Hoyt (Carole Lombard), accompanied by presumably her brother, Dick Hoyt (Theodore von Eltz), actually her husband. The Kid's mine is raided and two of his friends are killed and he learns that Dick and Virginia are the culprits...
A stagecoach line hires an agent to stop a string of robberies of gold shipments.