When a gang of outlaws put Andy Clyde's ranch house under siege, daughter Alice Day recruits college heart throb Ralph Graves to save daddy.
Johnny Arthur has been ordered to spend a year out west to toughen him up, so he and butler George Davis head out. The cowboys at the ranch don't like him, so Johnny and they play practical jokes on each other. However, when Virginia Vance is kidnapped, it turns out to be real desperadoes.
When wild horse Emma (Trixie the Horse) keeps opening the gates and freeing horses, ranch owner Molly (Molly Malone) hires Jimmie (Jimmie Adams) to deal with the problem. When he tames Emma, however, jealous ranch hands tie him up and kidnap Molly, so it's Emma to the rescue!
An outlaw calling himself Passin' Through halts his "evil" ways long enough to help out some children in difficulty.
A Playboy inherits a Western ranch on the condition that he shall run it properly for 6 months. A villain makes an attempt to distract him from reaching the goal, but he, no longer the wastrel of yore, persists and becomes full owner of the property.
Penny arrives in the West by aeroplane. She is considered a suspicious character and thrown into jail. Kurt Walters, a ranch foreman and deputy sheriff, discovers that she is the same girl that his friend, Jo Gary, met in Chicago. Gary fell in love with her, but she confessed she was a thief. Since Penny claims she wants to reform, Walters releases her and sends her to live with Mrs. Kingdon. In spite of her teasing and taunts (or perhaps because of them), Walters finds himself falling in love with Penny.
J. Wesley Pringle and S. S. Thorpe are running against each other for sheriff. Unscrupulous Thorpe has his gang kidnap Pringle to prevent his win but Georgie Hibler, the daughter of Pringle's biggest supporter and her good friend, Fite, whom Pringle had saved from suicide, team up to saves him from the gang. Pringle wins the election and the girl!
The story of a man -- accused of a crime he didn't commit and wounded by the posse -- who hides out on a desert ranch.
Neil Allison is tricked into assaying some false samples from a young crook's mine. When Neil sees that he has been duped, a quarrel ensues, and Jim Starke, the youth, is stabbed by an unknown assassin. Neil runs away thinking he has committed murder and becomes the unwitting partner of the victim's father.
Following his mother's death, John Gregory becomes the "Eagle," a thief determined to get even with the mining company that stole his family's fortune. Breaking into the company’s head office he discovers that another robber has preceded him and killed the night guard. When he is falsely accused, Lucy the girl he loves, discovers a written confession from the real killer just before John is to be hanged and rides wildly to the jail to save his life.
A drifter hobo is falsely accused of killing a saloon owner
John Gregg and his daughter Mary, on their way to Burro Springs, a boom mining town, lose their way and stumble into "Jawbone," a dilapidated town. Here they meet Mike Hernandez, a good-looking bad man. Mary, thinking Mike a gentleman, takes a liking to him. "Cheyenne" Harry, a homely looking good man, comes to Jawbone and Mary believes him to be a weak character. He becomes fascinated with her. Gregg hires Mike Hernandez to guide him to Burro Springs, displaying his small store of gold when paying Hernandez. Later, Gregg and his party become lost in the desert, and run out of water.
The Dawn of Understanding is a lost 1918 American silent Western comedy film produced by The Vitagraph Company of America and directed by David Smith. It stars Bessie Love in the first film of her nine-film contract with Vitagraph.
Jim had been away a long time. Pretty Marjie dressed herself in her very best when she heard that the boys had gone to the station to bring home the college chap. Jim arrived, climbed into a ranch outfit and felt at home once more. The boys decided to give him a party.
Henry Martin receives a letter from Buck Lessen, a convict about to be released from prison, telling him that his time is up and he is going to get him for sending him to prison and marrying his sweetheart, Jane. The Martins and their young daughter move away but Buck learns where they went. Buck is hiding on the porch, planning to ambush Henry when he comes out. Two drunken cowboys ride by firing their pistols. When Henry comes outside he sees Buck's body lying in the grass, shot to death by a stray bullet.
Through a kindly act Broncho Billy earns the deep gratitute of Marion Rivers, who presents him with a Bible. Not long afterwards, she comes upon him as he is about to hold up the stage, but at sight of the girl he is overwhelmed with shame and taking out the little Bible promises her that he will live honorably. In the meantime, Marion's father holds up the stage at another point, and one of the stagecoach drivers, mounting a bareback pony, rides off for the sheriff. Broncho Billy sees Rivers get away with the money, and when he hears the sheriff and his men coming, for Marion's sake he goes to warn her father. To shield him, he takes the bags of money and rides away with the men after him. He leaves the money at the mile post with a note saying: "SAheriff, I'm through with Bear County, this stick-up was my last", and rides across the border. (Moving Picture World Synopsis)
Evelyn and Irene Courteny, through the helplessness of their father, who is a cripple, are given charge of the general store and post office. A large bag of gold with registered letters, etc., are delivered by the mail carrier on day. Dick Lee, a notorious outlaw, sees the delivery of the valuable bag. That night, with a gang, Lee breaks into the post office and would have carried off the treasure, had not Evelyn escaped through a back window, mounted her horse, and rode away. One of the men sees her, however, and the three go in pursuit. Irene is quick to inform Broncho Billy, and the latter arrives just in time to save Evelyn from the hands of the bandits. The three are captured. Broncho Billy falls in love with Irene and the two are left to plan their future happiness. (Moving Picture World synopsis)
Gambler "On-the Level" Leigh (William S. Hart) is forced to leave his high rolling lifestyle to move his ailing sister Alice (Mildred Harris) to the healing climate the mountains. Financial strain compels him to resume his favored vocation. Unfortunately for Level, the dance hall girl Coralie (Alma Rubens) doesn't take rejection well and convinces the dealer to clean him out with a "cold deck". A desperate robbery ensues, leading to Level wanted for murder!
A sheep farmer brings his new wife to his father's ranch and the old man takes an instant dislike to her.
Dismissed from the church because of his seemingly undue intimacy with the schoolteacher, the young minister becomes an evangelist and, after an incident in which he thrashes the drunken sheriff, is appointed sheriff by the mayor. In the girl's home he sees a picture of her father, whom he recognizes as identical with that on a circular calling for the arrest of Idaho Mac, a notorious desperado. He promises the girl that he will never use his gun against her father, but sends his deputy, the ex-sheriff, to apprehend Idaho Mac at the border. The bandit, badly wounded by the deputy's bullets, reaches his daughter's house, and she thinks the sheriff false to his word.