Bill Sanger has his men out raiding and killing to obtain the ranches along the route that he knows the new railroad will use. He then kills the editor that received a letter that would expose him. But the editor earlier hid the letter in a chamber of his gun. Marshal Monte Hale arrives and eventually suspects Sanger and breaks into his house. After a gungight Sanger catches him and with one shot left shoots Monte. But he is using the editor's gun.
Dorothy, and her big city lawyer boyfriend, return to the Lazy 'B' ranch to read her late father's will. For Dorothy to inherit everything, she must stay on the ranch for 5 years. If she does not, everything goes to Buck, who is the manager. She does not like Buck, so she makes a deal with the wrong people for cattle and then the outlaws go to the ranch to get the $10,000 from her. But Buck is on the job.
With the Government Remount Service unable to meet it's quota of horses, Marshal Fred Martin arrives to try and find the rustlers. Apparently just a singing cowhand dressed in white, he becomes the masked Two Gun Troubador dressed in black when he goes after the outlaws. He quickly learns Tex Walters is the leader of the gang but he must find out who is the big boss that gives Walters his orders.
The fourth of 12 singing Westerns starring the "Silvery-Voiced Baritone," Fred Scott, Melody of the Plains begins peacefully enough with Scott, as cowboy Steve Condon, warbling Don Swander and June Hershey's "Albuquerque." The story quickly takes a rather grim turn when one of Steve's colleagues is shot and killed after selling out to a gang of rustlers. Mistakenly believing he fired the deadly shot, a dejected Steve, along with sidekick Fuzzy, goes to work for Bud's father, a rancher nearly forced into bankruptcy by a crooked land developer.
Mining executive Neal Wallace arrives to investigate the losses at a gold mine and is immediately framed for murder. The murderers then incite a lynch mob but the Sheriff lets him go. Wallace eventually convinces the Sheriff of his innocence and the two then work together to get the gang that is looting the gold ore.
Ranger Eddie Dean is looking for the outlaw the Tioga Kid, a man he closely resembles. He runs into Joe Morino and his gang of rustlers at the same time Tioga arrives to cut himself into Morino's game. But Morino doesn't give in and in the showdown, Eddie and the Kid find themselves on the same side.
A singing cowboy and his sidekick rescue miners from a bad deal.
As war looms in the Pacific, even cowboys are called on to fight the enemy. Horses are desperately needed by U.S forces stationed in the Philippines, and the Range Busters - Crash Corrigan, Alibi Terhune, and their newest partner, Davy Sharpe - are hired to accompany a herd to the islands. But first they must battle Axis spies right in Texas, as they foil a plot to steal the very horses destined for shipment.
Finding Indians stealing from his ranch, Gene learns they are suffering from malnutrition. Store owner Martin is cheating them and now he is after the Chief's valuable necklace. When the dying chief is found, having been attacked and robbed, Martin blames Lakhona who would become the new chief. When Gene helps Lakhona they soon find themselves fleeing from the law.
A greedy rancher is charging excessive prices for access to the area's only water supply, extorting the smaller ranchers in the area. A water diviner teams up with a cattle buyer to force the villain to share the water with his neighbors.
Eddie Dean (Eddie Dean) and his partner Soapy Jones (Roscoe Ates), under government orders, proceed to the ranch of J.C. Morgan (Shirley Patterson to buy cavalry remounts for the Army. At the ranch, they find out that J.C. is a girl. The nearby town of Dow City is under the control of a lawless trio headed by Trigger (Lee Roberts, Clem Kensington (Foxy Callahan) and Joe Morino (Dennis Moore). A member of the gang is Tucson Brown (Lee Bennett), one of J.C.'s trusted hands. When Eddie decides to buy the horses, Tucson steals the herd to prevent the sale. Soldiers, sent to investigate, are brutally murdered. The aroused townspeople elect Tennessee (William Fawcett, J.C.'s foreman, as sheriff. When the outlaws murder Tennessee, Eddie and Soapy, along with the reformed Tucson, swing into action.
A singing cowboy roams the Wild West with his sidekick, dancing horse and fancy wardrobe.
James Kincaid controls the local water supply and plans to do away with the other ranchers. Government agent Sandy Saunders arrives undercover to investigate Kincaid's land swindle scheme, and win the heart of one of his victims, Fay Denton.
President Lincoln personally sends Bill Gibson west to see if he can stop the holdups of the needed shipments of gold. There he meets his boyhood friend Foster. When all others refuse to take out the next gold shipment due to the killings, Bill volunteers. Jeannie, afraid for his safety, tells Foster of Bill's secret route not knowing Foster is the leader of the outlaw gang.
When the showboat hits town, two men use the parade as a distraction to rob the bank. Their accomplice is Pop, the clown from the showboat. He leaves the money on the boat and tells his daughter Patsy to bring it to him at a later stop on the river. Gene's investigation of a bank robbery takes him to the showboat where he becomes a performer. Gene and Frog try to find the money while helping Patsy and her father.
Caxton has broken out of prison and Eddie has been sent to bring him in. Caxton is known by the polka dot band on his hat and Eddie has Soapy wear one like it. This gets Soapy arrested as soon as he rides into town but it leads Eddie to Varney and he realizes Varney will lead him to Caxton.
When asked about the Ghost Riders song he sings, Gene Autry tells this legend: Gene is about to resign as an investigator for the county attorney and go into the cattle business with his pal Chuckawalla Jones but decides instead to help Anne Lawson clear her father, rancher Ralph Lawson, of a false murder charge. He looks for the three witnesses who can testify that Lawson shot only in self defense in killing a gambler, but the witnesses are terrorized by another gambler, town boss Rock McCleary, who shoots witness Pop Roberts Morgan. Fatally wounded, Pop gives Gene the information needed to clear Lawson, then dies crying the "Ghost Riders" are coming for him. Gene then heads for a showdown with McCleary.
A singing entomologist (Roy Rogers) acts meek to help a juggling sheriff (George "Gabby" Hayes) solve ranch raids.
A Hollywood scout averts disaster for a singing cowboy she has misled.
Sandy Doyle, gambler and political chief of a small border town, seeks to gain control of the Bar-X Ranch, owned by Rufe Rickson, to further some undercover activities of his own. He counts on Rickson's inability to stay away from gambling as the means to his ultimate success. Government investigator Oliver Shea and his assistant, Dan Haggerty, start a fight in Doyle's place when they see Rickson being cheated and are invited to the Bar-X where Oliver and Helen Rickson, Rufe's daughter, discover interest in each other and Dan finds himself pursued by Bell, the ranch cook. Sheriff Larson brings the prize money for the $5,000 race of the Rodeo Association, and that night it is stolen.