George Montgomery starred as Matthew Rockford, a cattle baron and former Mayor of Cimarron City, Oklahoma during the 1890s. Matt's father founded the city which now gushed with oil, cattle, gold, and gunfighters and cowpokes looking for adventure.

Matthew's friends and acquaintances included:

• Audrey Totter as Beth Purcell, a no-nonsense boardinghouse owner and Matt's love interest
• John Smith as Lane Temple, the town's tough sheriff/blacksmith
• Dan Blocker as Tiny Budinger, a burly handyman who helped  Matt and Lane on occasion.
• Dennis McCarthy as Doc Hodges
• Stuart Randall as Art Sampson
• Addison Richards as Martin Kingsley
• Fred Sherman as Burt Purdy
• Claire Carleton as Alice Purdy
• George Dunn as Jesse Williams
• Pete Dunn as Dody Hamer
• Tom Fadden as Silas Perry
• Wally Brown as Jed Fame
• Dennis McCarthy as Doc Hodges

Matt Rockford ready for action

Here is a select list of troubles tackled by Matt and Sheriff Temple:

• Matt uncovers silver mine operation using forced labor
• Gang leader threaten to take over the town unless he gets a ransom of $50,000.
• Rancher dams the river and cuts off the water supply to Cimarron City, forcing Matt to go undercover.
• Matt and Lane track down an alleged "Beast"
• A schoolteacher is suspected of robbing gold shipments
• A local no-account gains control to the land grant title that gives him ownership of the whole town and seeks revenge to those who treated him badly in the past.
• A religious fanatic squashes the romance between his daughter and her suitor.
• The supposedly deceased gambler husband of Beth Purcell, a former gambling hall worker, shows up in town and crosses paths with Beth's former lover who wants to kill her husband.
• A gunslingers attacks Matt and temporarily damages his vision.
• Matt and Lane investigate a brutal foreman who terrorizes  Chinese work gang who are laying railroad tracks near town.
• Sheriff Lane and Tiny Budinger monitor the suspicious activities of a bunch of soldiers who show up in town.
• Lane's latest romances might be a thief.
• Former army doctor once accused of malpractice arrives in town is recognized by former comrades who taunt him.
• Matt and Lane quell an angry mob who wants to lynch a man accused of murder.
• A innocent man framed for a crime searches for the real criminals who were responsible for sending him to prison.

Sheriff Lane Smith	Beth Purcell and Matt