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After Sam Weston escapes from prison, where he has served five years for a payroll robbery, insurance investigator Roy Rogers is assigned to find both Weston and the money, which was never recovered.  Roy is detailed to follow Sam's daughter Betty, who is suspected of knowing where the loot was stashed.  Betty, unaware of Roy's true identity, befriends him when he obtains a singing job on the showboat The Yellow Rose of Texas, on which she also performs.

Convinced of Betty's sincerity, Roy defends her when nightclub owner Charlie Goss insults her and implies that she is hiding her father.  A brawl starts in Goss's Club Ace, and when Roy is set upon by Goss's henchmen, singing group The Sons of the Pioneers come to his aid, along with bouncer Buster.  Roy and his new pals trounce their competition, after which Roy helps The Sons get a job on the showboat.

Later, Sam sends his friend, Indian Pete, to Betty, and Roy follows her when she leaves the showboat to meet her father.  Roy interrupts their happy reunion, and Betty is disillusioned to learn that Roy has been working undercover to find Sam.  When Sam proclaims his innocence and describes what really happened during the holdup, however, Roy agrees to give him forty-eight hours to search for the missing strongbox.

Roy and his friends accompany Sam to the canyon where Indian Pete had found a piece of the buckboard Sam was driving for the express company at the time of the robbery, but an anonymous tipster informs the sheriff of their whereabouts and he descends upon them with his posse.  Goss's henchman Ferguson shoots at the sheriff, making it look as if Sam was doing the shooting, and injures Sam in the process.  Sam disappears, and an upset Roy believes that he has escaped.

Roy soon finds Sam hiding in a stable, however, and Sam reasserts his innocence and his willingness to submit to Roy's judgment.  Roy apologizes to Sam and Betty for doubting them, then tricks Ferguson into participating in a shooting match, during which he obtains a bullet from Ferguson's gun, which he compares with the one taken from Sam's wound.  Roy gives the bullets to express agent Lukas, who is to forward them to Roy's insurance company.

Later, Roy rescues Indian Pete's little boy Pinto from a runaway wagon, and in the process, finds the missing strongbox.  The box's seal is unbroken, and Roy becomes suspicious of Lukas, who sealed the box originally and tampered with the evidence for the insurance company.  In order to entrap Lukas, Roy announces that he will reveal the thief's identity during a performance on the showboat, and Lukas attempts to escape when Roy shows the the box was empty, thereby proving that Lukas stole the money before loading the box on Sam's wagon.  The sheriff apprehends Lukas, however, and soon after, Sam, Indian Pete, Pinto and Buster sit in the audience as Roy, Betty and their friends put on a spectacular show.

Notes
Songs:  "Take It Easy," music and lyrics by Albert DeBru, Irving Taylor and Vic Mizzy; "The Timber Trail" and "A Two-Seated Saddle and a One-Gaited Horse," music and lyrics by Tim Spencer; "Western Wonderland," music by Ken Carson, lyrics by Guy Savage; "Song of the Rover," music and lyrics by Bob Nolan; "Lucky Me, Unlucky You" and "Down in the Old Town Hall," music and lyrics by Charles Henderson; "Down Mexico Way," music and lyrics by Jule Styne, Sol Meyer and Eddie Cherkose; "Vira do minho" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas," traditional.

Some of the above credits were taken from a Republic Pictures "Official Billing" sheet contained in the film's file at AMPAS.  Although the billing sheet credits Fred A. Ritter as art director, reviews list Russ Kimball in that position.  Most of the songs were missing from the print viewed and additional songs not listed above may have been included in the film.  Although an HR news item noted that Dale Evans was writing song lyrics for the film, her writing contribution has not been confirmed.  The picture marked the screen debut of child actor Don Reynolds, who was also known as Little Brown Jug, Don "Brown Jug" Reynolds and Don Kay Reynolds.  Modern sources include John Dilson, William Desmond and Horace B. Carpenter in the cast.