An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.
A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.
Raton Pass is a curious western based on the rules of Community Property. Dennis Morgan and Patricia Neal portray a recently married husband and wife, each of whom owns half of a huge cattle ranch. Neal is a tad more ambitious than her husband, and with the help of a little legal chicanery she tries to obtain Morgan's half of the spread. He balks, so she hires a few gunslingers to press the issue. In a 1951 western, the greedy party usually came to a sorry end; Raton Pass adheres strictly to tradition.
A band of outlaws, led by "Papa" Clellan, hold up in a ghost town as they plan an attack on a wagon train loaded with gold. The unexpected arrival of a stagecoach forces the gang to hold the passengers and driver as hostages. The later arrival of a wanderer, John Trey, sets in motion events not in "Papa" Clellan's original plan.
Crooked ranch foreman Thatcher sends his two henchmen, Parnell and Clint, out to murder his boss, wealthy Peter Arnold who has just arrived to retire on his ranch, bringing in tow his daughter, tomboy Jessie, who despises western life and can't wait to run off back to San Francisco. Stagecoach line owner Dave Collins and his sidekick Chito show up just in time to deter the attackers. Collins isn't done yet, though, as a gold shipment sent on one of his stages is stolen by Parnell and Clint, one of whom is recognized by Jessie, attempting to escape back to the west coast. Collins has his hands full trying to retrieve the stolen gold, and dealing with Jessie, who's fallen head-over-heels in love with him.
It's 1876 and all the Indians are at peace except the Comanches lead by Black Cloud. When Black Cloud wipes out a town, only six soldiers are left and they head for the nearest fort. In the desert they are reinforced by members of a stagecoach and find some water at a deserted mission. Pinned down by Black Cloud they send an Indian boy who was Black Cloud's prisoner on to the fort while they try to bargain with Black Cloud whom they learn is without water.
The coming of the railroad to Cedar City spells the end of the stagecoach as the government gives the mail contract to the fastest means of delivery. McCord loses the stagecoach line gambling with the new buyer, but has enough hidden money to buy a ranch and some cattle. To make more money, he starts a gang to rob the railroad, express offices and steal cattle. But the railroads send out special agent Cameron to end his reign of violence.
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...
Questions arise when Senator Stoddard (James Stewart) attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.
Lash and Fuzzy sent to help John Watson with his stage line arrive to find him murdered. Recognizing the outlaws they trail them to their leader Baxter. But before Baxter can tell who the big boss is he is shot. After getting the stage through to assure the mail contract, Lash now realizes who the boss is.
After the Civil War, ex-Union Colonel John Henry Thomas and ex-Confederate Colonel James Langdon are leading two disparate groups of people through strife-torn Mexico. John Henry and company are bringing horses to the unpopular Mexican government for $35 a head while Langdon is leading a contingent of displaced southerners, who are looking for a new life in Mexico after losing their property to carpetbaggers. The two men are eventually forced to mend their differences in order to fight off both bandits and revolutionaries, as they try to lead their friends and kin to safety.
A gang of bandits takes control of Tucson in preparation for the arrival of a consignment of gold, with only a band of voluntary soldiers trying to outwit them and save the town.
Sergeant Carlos Olivarez (Buck Jones) becomes entangled in the machinations of an oil baron, havoc-wreaking bandits, and the femme fatale who ruined his brother.
Bandit Cheyenne Harry reforms because of the faith placed in him by Molly Young and her father. Soon, however, Harry is lured from the straight and narrow when he meets his old friend Ben Kent and consents to participate in Kent's plan of robbing a stagecoach.
It is 1879 in the Dakota Territories, a band of men who set out to find and recover a family of settlers that has mysteriously vanished from their home. Expecting the offenders to be a band of fierce natives, but they soon discover that the real enemy stalks them from below.
A Union Cavalry outfit is sent behind confederate lines in strength to destroy a rail supply center. Along with them is sent a doctor who causes instant antipathy between him and the commander. The secret plan for the mission is overheard by a southern belle who must be taken along to assure her silence.
Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.
Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier dentist. Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers. She tricks Haywood into a sham marriage as a disguise. Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc the Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid".
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.