 Thanks to writer George H. Plympton (who was part of the writer s crew on both serials), Columbia s 45th serial is almost an exact remake plot-wise of Universal s 47th sound-era serial, 1940 s "Winners of the West," with only some modifications in the character roles. The railroad is coming, and three different factions - landowner Karl Ulrich/The Baron (George Eldredge) and his henchies, led by Campo (Dick Curtis); railroad construction boss Homer Lathrop (Jack Ingram) and his motley crew led by Scully (Rusty Wescoatt) and Irv (Myron Healey); and a tribe of Indians led by White Eagle (Rick Vallin) - have vested interests and reasons to stop the line s construction under the supervision of Tom Lane (Hal Landon) and his sister Carol (Virginia Herrick, who is reason enough to watch all 15 episodes.) Undercover marshal Jim Grant (Jock Mahoney in his Jock O Mahoney name-billing period) and prospector Rocky (William Fawcett) are there to upset and hinder the raids by which ever band of malcontents is next in line. Stunt man turned star Mahoney doubled himself in most scenes, and his footwear throughout the serial was a pair of Indian moccasins rather then the usual high-heeled boots. That wasn t done to be unique as much as it was done to save time when to came to such stunts as jumping from and running on slanted roofs. Stunt men did not, as a rule, care much for doing roof-top stunts in high-heeled boots, or even transfers where a boot heel could get hung up. In some of the Durango Kid films, where Mahoney doubled Charles Starrett, the footwear on Durango sometimes magically changed in mid-air. Other than stealing the plot, Columbia did have the good grace not to use stock footage from the Universal serial. Most of it wouldn t have matched, and they had plenty of their own.