Tex Morgan #5
Valley of the Missing Cowboys!
The outlaw known as the Vulture rides into Hangtown, ruled by rival outlaw Red Hastings, intending to eliminate Hastings and take over the outlaw town as his own. The Vulture enters the local saloon and confronts Red, shooting him and a number of his minions dead, convincing the others that he has what it takes to take over as leader. The Vulture then begins plotting with his men to ransack the local valley farms, stealing their cattle and horses. The Vulture intends to sneak onto the farm properties to catch the cowboys unaware and those who are not killed before surrender would be then forced into slavery. Over the course of the following evenings, the Vulture and his men make a successive sweet of the area.
One morning, Tex Morgan and Lobo are riding into the valley to visit Tex's fried Sol Starret. When they arrive they find the old rancher dying from a gunshot. Sol tells them what happened before dying and Tex and Lobo decide to deal with the Vulture and free the enslaved cowboys from his tyranny. Finding the valley where the stolen cattle and horses are being kept, Tex sends Lobo to free the stolen property while he rides out to Hangtown to confront the Vulture.
Tex crashes the Vulture's party at the Hangtown saloon where he guns down the majority of the men. Before one of the Vulture's men can knock Tex over, Lobo arrives killing the goon with a shotgun blast. Tex then challenges the Vulture to a draw and easily bests him, shooting the outlaw dead.
Recurring Characters
Tex Morgan
Lobo
Lightning
Cloud
The Killer's Brand!
A stage coach is robbed and it's drivers are gunned down. When the local sheriff forms a posse to investigate the missing coach they learn the truth, and sends men to tell Madeline Drake her brother -- who was riding the coach -- was murdered. As they ride into town they cross paths with Tex Morgan and Lobo who are camping out in the area. Believing that they are involved in the robbery, the sheriff places them under arrest and takes them into town. There Madeline and her boyfriend Harvey witness their arrival. Madeline accuses Tex and Lobo of killing her brother and begins pressuring the locals to provide swift justice by hanging the pair.
Tex and Lobo are put through a kangaroo court where Madeline's demands for justice have polarized the locals into demanding the pair be hanged without due process. Before a decision can be made, Lobo manages to break free from his bonds and grabs a deputy's gun. While Tex creates a distraction, Lobo flees the scene while Tex is recaptured. Harvey manages to convince the locals that he attempt to escape is proof of Tex's guilt. While the others agree to hang Tex, Morgan wonders why Madeline and Harvey are so insistent on having them hanged.
Lobo learns the truth later when he overhears Madeline and Harvey speaking in private about how they orchestrated the robbery and their intentions to leave town after Tex is hanged. Lobo rushes to where the lynch mob is about to hang Tex and frees him. The pair then rush off to get Madeline and Harvey. At Madeline's house, Harvey soon realizes that Madeline intends to double cross him and manipulated him into committing the crime. Before she can kill Harvey, Tex and Lobo come crashing in and force both to stand down. They then force the pair to sign a confession that clears their names and turns them over to the authorities to face justice.
With the truth revealed, the sheriff apologizes to Tex and Lobo for giving into mob rule and Tex accepts, telling the sheriff that justice is a hard taskmaster.
Recurring Characters
Tex Morgan
Lobo
Lightning
Cloud
Killer's Mistake!
At the Red Dog sheriff's office, Tumbleweed points Blaze Carson's attention to a wanted poster about the Fargo Kid, who is reported to be in the area. Blaze is more interested in a local trouble maker named Kansas he just recently saw go into the nearby dance hall and decides to go and check up on him.
Inside the dance hall, Kansas is attempting to convince a dance named Smokey to run off with him to Mexico. The girl scoffs at him as he does not have enough money, but Kansas insists that he'll get money and show her that he is worth her time. Just then, Blaze Carson enters the hall and warns Kansas when the cowboy lips off at him. Enraged, Kansas promises to Smokey that he'll fix Carson and get enough money for them to travel.
Kansas rides up to mountain country to visit on an old prospector named Luke whom Kansas believes is stashing away money in his shack. When Luke invites Kansas in, the young man pulls his gun and demands that Luke turn over the gold. When Luke insists that there isn't any, Kansas shoots him dead and then tears the shack apart only to find that there are no valuables to be found.
While making his escape, Kansas runs into Blaze Carson. Seeing an opportunity to avoid implication for murder, Kansas tells Blaze that Luke had been shot and killed. He leads Blaze up to the shack where he finds the dead body and the bullets from a .44. Soon after their arrival, the Fargo Kid arrives and bursts into the cabin attempting to use it as a hideout. Blaze however draws faster and kills Fargo. Kansas then suggests that it was the Fargo Kid who shot and killed Luke. However, Blaze quickly subdues Kansas and reveals that he deduces that Kansas was the killer. He points out that Fargo acted like he was never there before, and that the Kid carried a .38, not a .44 like Kansas uses. Taking Kansas back to town as a prisoner, Blaze learns why Kansas had murdered Luke and tells the murderer that there is no escaping the law.
Recurring Characters
Blaze Carson
The Mystery of the Desert Sands!
Tex Morgan and Lobo are relaxing in the general store of a small New Mexico town. They are soon visited by Tex's prospector friend Barney. Barney reveals that he discovered gold Doubloons that are part of an old Native American legend. Suddenly, the Calico Kid and his gang burst, knowing that Barney won't reveal the location of the gold he found, guns him down and steals the Doubloons and then departs.
With the gang dispersed, Tex and Lobo lose sight of them. Lobo then tells Tex about the legend: Telling the cowpoke that many years ago during the early colonial days of the United States a great river ran through New Mexico. A Spanish expedition sailed into the area an warred with the Native Americans, slaughtering many and torturing those who survived. However the river soon dried out, trapping their boat on land and they were soon quickly slaughtered by the Natives. Over time the dried out river bed became a desert that quickly buried the Spanish ship from years of blowing sand.
Tex and Lobo follow after Calico Kid's back trail and although they are caught in a sand storm they find the long lost Spanish ship and are ambushed by Calico Kid and his gang of outlaws. Overpowered, the pair are taken prisoner and tied up and left in the galley hold to eventually be buried alive in sand. While Calico and his men discover the rest of the gold, Tex uses an old cutlass to cut through his ropes and free Lobo. Getting the drop on Calico and his men, Tex and Lobo easily slay them with their swords and leave the scene on horseback, leaving Calico Kid, his men, and the lost Spanish ship to be buried in the sands, hopefully never to be seen again.
Recurring Characters
Tex Morgan
Lobo
Lightning
Cloud
