As a young man, Matthew Masters was known as the Cactus Kid, an outlaw. His criminal career ended one day at the Last Chance Saloon in Jefferson County, Texas, when he faced the David Gang, who had taken the town hostage. When the dust cleared, the killers were dead, and the Cactus Kid was summoned to the mansion of the governor of Texas. The governor pardoned the young outlaw as a reward for getting rid of the Davis Gang, and the Cactus Kid promised to go to medical school and become a doctor.