Wild Horse Mesa has storekeeper George Irving packing up and closing his store down to go out to the wild west where there are still herds of thousands of wild horses on the open range. Good money to be made in capturing these animals, but he runs into Noah Beery, Sr. who has a scheme to trap them by the herd using barbed wire and he doesn't care how many of these animals are killed and maimed and then have to be killed with the wire. He actually persuades Irving the dope that the horses will shy from the wire. Irving is an amateur in a game which is not friendly to amateurs.
Saving the horses is the job of Jack Holt and a tribe of Indians whom he's friends with. He's in the same business, but respects the animals he captures.
Billie Dove who is Irving's daughter is along and Beery villain that he is has designs on her as well. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. then a callow youth of 16 clerks in Irving's store and he is also up for a little adventure. Wild Horse Mesa is one of his earliest screen appearances. Look sharp and you also might find Gary Cooper among the cowboys in the film.
The story is from one of Zane Grey's novels which Paramount was busy filming in those days. They spent some bucks on this one with location shooting in Colorado and nice cinematography of those stampeding horses. Wild Horse Mesa got two sound remakes, one with Randolph Scott and another with Jack Holt's son Tim.
Western fans and fans of author Zane Grey will approve.
