“The Big Stampede” is a tale of action and adventure out west in the days before the west was won. Sam Crew (Noah Beery) and his boys are cattle rustlers, which is the procurement of cattle through illegal means by stealing them from various herds. Sam’s only competition is Sonora Joe (Luis Alberni) another well known cattle rustler. Both gangs of rustlers go after the same cattle herd and Sam’s crew wins out. Governor Lew Wallace (Berton Churchill) sends John Steele (John Wayne) to sort out the situation. Steele is a sheriff who is coming to clean up the town. However he is greatly outnumbered by both gangs so using the old adage, ‘The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend’; Steele deputizes Sonora Joe and his gang to help him take down Sam Crew.