A relatively simple, straightforward, Hopalong Cassidy western. Filmed in various interesting places in Arizona and California, with some spectacular canyons. Spectacular shots of a large herd of horses on the run. Major McCready, ranking officer of Fort Boone, has received an order from a higher authority, to supply 500 horses within 10 days, for use by the Rough Riders, in the Spanish-American War. He calls on Hopalong to accomplish this feat, as he knows the surrounding area better than most. Hoppy is disappointed not to be called into active service, but agrees. Possible complications include rustlers and stampedes that scatter the horses. Such a threat appears in the person of Blackjack Carson, who runs a neighboring ranch. He is jealous of the notoriety of Hoppy and his friends, badmouthing their suitability to fight in the war. He challenges Lucky(Russell Hayden) to try to ride the notorious horse Thunderbolt. Lucky never is able to even get on the horse, and Hoppy has to rescue him from being trampled. Now, it's Hoppy's turn. He gets on the horse and it bucks him around the coral, but he hangs on. .........Carson figures his men don't have the knowledge to round up that many horses in a short time. He has a potential buyer of a large number of horses in a Mr. Jordan. Thus, he schemes to get control of Hoppy's horses, divert them into Mexico and deliver them to Mr. Jordan. Hoppy's group ride to the area around Ghost Creek Canyon, where they hope to find that many horses(grazing looks sparse!) Some of Carson's men spy on the progress of the roundup. They say they've never seem any horses in this area. Hmm. Around the campfire, Windy relates how one time he rode around with Teddy Roosevelt. Sure! Not only does Carson want to steal Hoppy's entire herd, he wants to charge Hoppy as being a horse thief, by secretly placing about 10 of his own horses, with his XXX brand, in Hoppy's herd! His men somehow herd the horses into a box canyon. Then, they sneak up to Hoppy's campsite, where his men are sleeping, and surprise them, taking nearly all their guns, and tying them up. Carson tells his men there is a grove of trees nearby, with the implication that they should sting Hoppy and others up. But, then, Carson leaves for home. Hoppy's men stupidly are left alone for a while, when they untie their ropes. When a guard returns, they jump and kill him..........Now, since they have only 2 guns remaining, Hoppy suggests that they start fires at the end of the blind canyon where the horses are, to cause the horses to stampede out of the canyon, then hopefully direct them toward Fort Boone. One rustler rides to rouse Carson to deploy the rest of his men to their operation. Meanwhile , Barbara(Judith Allen) speeds toward Fort Boone to hopefully get reinforcements. She leads a platoon back to where the action is. Meanwhile, Hoppy's group, herds the horses across a river, toward the fort. Then, Hoppy rides ahead and positions himself behind some rocks, waiting for some of Carson's men to pass by. Carson's new recruits finally appear, and Hoppy kills several before running out of ammunition. Very fortunately, the Cavalry patrol now arrives, and overwhelms Carson's men. ........The film ends with Barbara kissing Lucky, as he, Hoppy, and even Windy prepare to go to war, wearing army uniforms. ........Billy King, whom we met in the previous film in this series, returns as a budding teenager, to participate in some of the action.........Unfortunately, in real life, few of the horses procured for a Cuban cavalry unit made the trip to Cuba, due to a lack of space on the few transport ships available. Thus, most of those trained as cavalry ended up fighting as infantry. Teddy Roosevelt did often ride a horse, so that his infantry men could see and hear him better.
