Columbia`s 54th serial production (of 57) finds long-time villain player Marshall Reed top-billed for the first and last time in his film career that stretched across over 130 westerns, 17 serials and 23 features (TV credits and duplicated/changed-for-TV titles not included) and, thanks to liberal use of stock footage from prior Columbia westerns and serials, a player such as Jack Kirk makes an appearance six years after his 1948 death. The primary stock footage source for this serial was 1940`s "Deadwood Dick" with Reed in his alter-ego role as "The Ridin` Terror" costumed to match Don Douglas or, to be more precise, the Don Douglas double from the 1940 serial. Reed plays a clean-shaven version of famous hunter and Indian scout Bill Cody who comes to the aid of miner Rocky Ford when outlaws attack his ranch.