Yodelin’ Kid from Pine Ridge 1937

In Pine Ridge, a vast pine forest in the American Southeast, a fierce feud has split the community: cattlemen want to burn parts of the woods to clear land for grazing, while turpentiners rely on harvesting pine resin to make their living. The cattlemen suspect the turpentiners of rustling cattle, but the mastermind behind the theft is Len Parker LeRoy Mason, a cattleman who secretly pulls the strings. Among the cattlemen stands Gene Autry Gene Autry, a principled young man who opposes raiding and burning, even as he finds himself torn by a forbidden romance with Milly Baynum Betty Bronson, the stepdaughter of the turpentiners’ leader. Gene’s loyalty is put to the test as he tries to bridge two angry camps.

Gene’s good intentions collide with tragedy when he warns the turpentiners of an impending raid, only to see the plan backfire. The turpentiners fight back, and Gene’s father is wounded in the ensuing violence. Believing Gene was siding with the cattlemen, his father disowns him, and Gene leaves home to chart his own path.

Two years pass, and Gene returns to Pine Ridge not as a farmer but as the star of Colonel Millhouse’s Wild West show, run by Colonel Millhouse Smiley Burnette. He’s welcomed back by Milly Baynum, yet he learns that his father is now destitute after Parker’s schemes disrupted their cattle. Gene uses his own money to cover his father’s mounting bills, while the looming tension between the factions intensifies. Milly reveals that Arthur’s cattle are grazing in a distant meadow, and Gene sets out to investigate, only to be seized by Parker’s henchmen. Parker’s plan is simple and brutal: replace Arthur’s cattle with his own stock and move the stolen herd to Fox Canyon.

Back in town, Frog Millhouse, the showman’s veteran sidekick, trembles as he awaits Gene’s arrival so the show can begin. Parker’s henchman Jeff Galloway [Jack Dougherty] is ordered to kill the stand-in for Gene, and a chaotic turn of events unfolds when Galloway shoots the double. Meanwhile, Gene escapes captivity, returns to the scene of the crime, and discovers that his father has died. He hurries to the Baynum cabin and finds Milly’s stepfather Bayliss Baynum [Russell Simpson] murdered—the blunt force trauma comes from a gun that Parker’s men had stolen. Sheriff Martin [Huntz Hall] arrives and arrests Gene for the crime, setting off a tense confrontation with the turpentiners who fear lynching.

To prevent a mob, Frog and Milly stand with Sheriff Martin to protect Gene, and the situation escalates into a gunfight on the street between the ranchers and the turpentiners. Parker kills Arthur and Bayliss, slipping away as chaos erupts. Gene, joined by the show’s troupe, gives chase, herd by the thrill of pursuit and a sense of justice. The performers round up Parker and his remaining henchmen, and the police finally haul Parker away to jail. With the feud finally quelled, Gene and Milly choose to marry, signaling a new beginning for Pine Ridge and a return of peace to the land they all share.