The year is 1898 and the frontier is still a tough and harsh place where even horses can face the long arm of justice.  Because a horse named Duke is viewed as being wild and uncontrollable, a judge is on the verge of sentencing him to death.  Fortunately, John Drury (John Wayne) happens to be passing through town and he agrees to take the horse for himself.  Duke is so grateful for being rescued that he not only allows Drury to ride him but he also looks out for Drury when Drury announces that he is going to go after a mysterious outlaw known as the Hawk.

Underneath his mask, the Hawk is actually Henry Simms (Frank Hagney), who everyone thinks is a trustworthy member of the community.  When Simms and Drury go searching for the Hawk, Simms ties Drury to a tree and then frames Drury for murder.  Fortunately, both Duke and Ruth Gaunt (Ruth Hall) are determined to clear Drury’s name and help him stop the Hawk’s reign of terror.

This was one of John Wayne’s early films, from the pre-Stagecoach days when he was getting small roles in A-list films but was spending most of his time appearing in in the type of B-westerns that were typically shown as the bottom part of a double bill.  Though it is obvious that Wayne was still getting used to being in front of the camera when he made Ride Him, Cowboy, Wayne shows hints of the charisma that eventually led to John Ford casting him as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach.  The true star of the film is Duke, the horse that is smart enough to unsaddle another horse, untie the bound Drury, and keep the bad guy from escaping.  Without Duke, John Drury would have spent the rest of his life tied to that tree and the Hawk would never have been stopped.  Duke did such a good job that he was rewarded with a film career and he would go on to co-star with John Wayne in five more films.