Devil Riders (1943)

In the first of the "Billy Carson" series, Mesa City is all set to welcome the new stagecoach coming through on its first trip after Tom Farrell (Frank LaRue),of the Farrell Stagecoach Company has secured permission from the government to run a road through the bad lands. There is a good-natured rivalry between Farrell and Billy Carson ('Buster CRabbe'), who operates the Pony Express,and whose pony-express-road parallels the new stagecoach line. Jim Higgins (John Merton), crooked lawyer in the employ of Del Stone (Charles King), whose plans to grab rich land is thwarted by Farrell's stagecoach line. Stone has four henchmen attack the coach, whose passenger is Sally Farrell (Patti McCarty), Farrell's daughter. Billy, riding his pony express route, cuts in between the pursuing henchies and the stagecoach, and climbs on top of the stagecoach, takes the rifle from the driver, Jed Clark (Hank Bell), and laying flat on the roof fires at and kills two of the bandits and the other two ride off. But Stone and Higgins are far from through, and set up a scheme to pit Carson and Farrell against each other.