Mike Martin becomes a deputy United States marshal in early-day Texas because of his almost unbelievable marksmanship. (That he has a rifle with a special scope doesn't hurt anything.) He hates the thought that he has been hired as a killer instead of a lawman but his superior, Marshal Bob Scott, sets him straight. For years a master gang of rustlers has raided government grazing lands and Lieutenant-Governor Watson orders Scott to get them. Scott, disguised as a prospector, is killed when he spots the outlaws deep in the Sangre de Christo range. Head of the rustlers is rancher Champ Wylie and his gang includes his foreman Santee and a crack gunman, Kincaid. Visiting Wylie is his novelist niece Jane Warren. When Scott is not heard from, Mike, also posing as a prospector, goes to find him, and meets Jane. He eventually solves the rustling mystery but not without some lead exchange...
There's a fair amount of body count due to Wayne Morris' keen marksmanship in this western called, eh, the Marksman and, as far as being an efficiently and agreeable programmer that passes time decently, it hits the mark. I found it quite entertaining; an interesting idea of a deputy stopping bad guys with a rifle - even if the rifle is too early for the timeline here - and a brisk and adequate plot being strong factors. Plus Elena Verdugo is a cutie and I liked her inquisitive and innocent character. She plays a writer from the East visiting her uncle, Frank Ferguson, who happens to be the head of a cattle rustling outfit. For undemanding western fanatics this would do just fine.
