Cowboys from Texas

Republic's 3 Mesquiteers are our Cowboys From Texas in this western where the cattlemen and the homesteaders are feuding once again. Interestingly enough though a real piece of American history is used as the plot basis.

In 1902 Congress passed and President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law the Newlands Reclamation Act authored by Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada where thousands of acres are set aside for the building of dams and various irrigation projects. Naturally this is going to benefit everybody sooner or later. The Homesteaders start filing on claims knowing that irrigation will be coming there way. The ranchers however once again like the open range as is and the plot of a Gazillion westerns comes into play.

But there are villains in this piece that is setting both cattlemen and homesteaders feuding because they want to grab all the land before irrigation comes in. It's up to Mesquiteers Robert Livingston, Duncan Renaldo and Raymond Hatton to set things right.

I will say though that there's no way I bought Bob Livingston turning against his companions and becoming outlaw to get the goods on the real crooks. I doubt the crooks would have been that dumb to believe it, but they were.

Leading lady in this film is Carole Landis who would soon be a big star at 20th Century Fox. She's the daughter of head homesteader Charles Middleton. What a tragic tale her life was.

3 Mesquiteer fans will like this, but it's far from the best of the series.

This film begins immediately with a corrupt government official by the name of "Clay Allison" (Ivan Miller) attempting to use his position to force homesteaders off of their land so that he can it for himself. To do that, he has spread rumors that a government construction project is being delayed which will leave most of the new settlers without the jobs they need to feed their families. In addition to that, he has also sent out a group of thugs to physically harass these settlers into leaving as well. And it's because of this violence that the "Three Mesquiteers" become involved. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an enjoyable addition to the series with "Stony Brooke" (Robert Livingston) reprising his role as "the Masked Rider" and the former bandit named "Renaldo" (Duncan Renaldo) now fully incorporated into the group. That being said, although the film is clearly dated, it was still an enjoyable grade-B Western, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.