Riders in the Sky

When asked about the Ghost Riders song he sings, Gene Autry recounts the tale: he is about to resign as a county attorney's investigator and start a cattle business with his friend Chuckawalla Jones, but instead helps Anne Lawson clear her father, rancher Ralph Lawson, of a false murder charge. Gene seeks three witnesses who can testify that Lawson shot a gambler in self-defense, but they are terrorized by town boss Rock McCleary, who shoots witness Pop Roberts Morgan. Fatally wounded, Pop gives Gene the information needed to clear Lawson, then dies crying that the "Ghost Riders" are coming for him. Gene then heads for a showdown with McCleary.