Heart of the Golden West

"heart of the golden west" is a 1942 american western film starring roy rogers. the plot revolves around roy helping ranchers in cherokee city after ross lambert doubles the rates to ship their cattle to market. roy contacts colonel silas popen, owner of a steamboat, to arrange cheaper transport. he plans a welcoming event for popen and his daughter, mary lou. however, james barabee, head of the cattleman's association, warns roy that popen dislikes everything western, but lambert intercepts the telegram, leading to a bad first impression.

lambert stages a saloon brawl to terrify popen, causing a runaway wagon. roy rescues popen and mary lou, but popen still refuses to ship cattle. mary lou then organizes the ranchers to round up the cattle at barabee's ranch. lambert sabotages the steamboat by setting it on fire while the ranch hands are occupied fighting the flames, allowing him to rustle the cattle.

popen, who had fallen into a well, overhears lambert discussing the crime with his men. after being rescued, he reveals the cattle's location under a waterfall in a swamp. the ranchers retrieve the cattle and arrest lambert and his men. mary lou is kidnapped by lambert but is later rescued by roy. ultimately, popen signs a contract to transport the cattle.

the cast includes roy rogers as roy, smiley burnette as frog, ruth terry as mary lou popen, walter catlett as colonel silas popen, edmund macdonald as ross lambert, and george "gabby" hayes as gabby.