Left in the care of his half-breed brother, Buck, by his dying mother, Wallace Layson has no knowledge of his family history. His father, knowing that his son will inherit a ranch on his 21st birthday, tries to secure the property for himself by persuading a dance hall girl to come between the boy and his fiancée. When Buck learns of the plan he decides to foil it without his half-brother knowing.
Trying to trick Ma (Lydia Knott) and Mary Winters (Allene Ray) into selling their rundown ranch, which will be in the path of a future railroad, Underwood (Charles K.French) hires Keno Creager (Albert Smith) to impersonate Jimmy Winters, not seen by his mother and sister for many years.
Deputy Sheriff Martin of Arizona is in love with Lola a waitress at the Gold Dollar restaurant. However, complications arise when Martin encounters James Kinney, a wanted murderer working under an assumed name in the local mine. Deputy Martin discovers that Kinney is also interested in Lola, fueling a rivalry between the two men. During a mine accident, Kinney is placed in a dangerous situation and Martin must decide whether to act on his personal feelings or uphold his duty as a lawman.
Miner Holton lives and works with his daughter Leota near Stormy Creek. Leota loves Dick Raleigh, though her father objects. When prospector Tom Andrews is injured near their home Leota and Dad nurse him back to health and give him work in their little mine. In repayment he intends to steal from them taking advantage when Holton is hurt while Leota is away but Dick thwarts him and he and Leota are united with her father’s blessing.
Miner John Walsh leaves his wife and baby behind on his barren claim taking their small store of gold to the settlement and gambling it away. He becomes embroiled in a fight with cowpuncher Burns and is killed. Shortly afterwards Mrs. Walsh, weakened by her attempt to work, her husband's claim collapses. The doctor declares only a transfusion can save Mrs. Walsh's life. Burns, now a fugitive, appears and volunteers. Mrs. Walsh's life is saved, but Burns, weakened by hunger and exposure, succumbs, happy in having made amends for his crime.
A western settlement of pioneer descendants is threatened with the loss of its water supply through the encroachments of nearby townspeople.
Johnson, a pharmacist, makes an illicit traffic in cocaine and morphine, which he cleverly sells through his drug counter to a select clientele. In his richly furnished office, the head of the Kurson Chemical Company counts the receipts of Kurson Consumption Cure, a patented drug that contains a large amount of morphine.
When Pinto reaches her eighteenth birthday, the five wealthy Arizonans who adopted her upon the death of her parents decide that ranch life will never make a lady of her. Their old friend Pop Audry, formerly of Arizona and now a member of New York society, agrees to provide Pinto with the necessary education. Accordingly, Pinto and her cowboy nursemaid Looey are dispatched to New York where they lose Audry's address. ...
Cowboy Billy Fortune is in love with Hope Beecher, who prefers Billy's friend Ben Morgan, but resists his advances because of his fondness for drink. Hope's discontent is echoed by the town wives' public outcry against drink. To divert their interest, Billy is nominated to make love to their leader, widow Fay Bittinger, who has already disposed of four husbands....
Jim Blake, the playboy son of a New York millionaire, heads west to prove himself a man. He goes to work on his father's ranch in Wyoming, and eventually wins over the locals by turning the tables on a town bully and trying to collect damages from a railroad magnate, whose trains have killed many of the Blake ranch's cattle. When the railroad refuses to pay, Jim comes up with a plan that will make them pay far more than they originally had to. Problems arise when he falls in love with Alice, the railroad magnate's daughter.
Rustler Pete Sontag kidnaps Merlin Warner after he kills her father. Pete, a drug smuggler who uses his saloon as a front, coerces Merlin though beatings to become the dancer Mexicali Mae. She meets and falls in love with morphine addict Joe Blanchard but Pete frames Joe for a murder that he committed, forcing Mae to hide Joe in a homestead in the hills. After many struggles, Joe is cured of his addiction and proposes to Mae. She accepts, but when his mother and fiancée Eleanor arrive, they offer her money to leave, Mae refuses the money but becomes convinced that she is not good enough for Joe and writes to him that she is returning to the saloon. Joe learning of his mother’s plot arrives at the saloon and in the resultant fight Pete is killed. Mae and Joe are reconciled.
Bill Merritt and his pal, Chewin' Charlie, notice a touring car passing them on the road. Soon the car stops, and the party sets out after a jackrabbit wanted by an elderly lady in the car. Bill, realizing the brakes have slipped on a downgrade, rescues the runaway car and its occupant, Mrs. Gordon, and wins the lady's admiration. Invited to the hotel of millionaire mine owner Andrew Gordon, Bill becomes interested in his daughter, Cleo, but is told that the man who aspires to be her husband must possess wealth. That night Bill overhears a plot to take over a strip of land between Gordon's mine and that of his enemy Tom Middleton; Bill and Charlie set out to stake their claim, and after subduing "Fraction" Jack, they register the claim. Bill persuades Gordon to buy out his claim and saves Charlie from claim jumpers.
Bart Carson is in love with Lou and even goes to jail to save Walter A. Walker, a man she says is her brother but who is really a husband who has deserted his wife and two children.
Gold miner Edd Denmeade loves Lucy Watson, the sister of the official mining claim recorder. Denmeade suspects Watson of killing his father, who after a poker game was shot by a gambler "who shuffles with one hand." The real murderer, Sam Spralls, has convinced Watson that he killed Denmeade and threatens to expose him unless Watson assigns him all the gold claims. Spralls assembles a band of killers to jump the claims when Watson complies. Eventually, Denmeade learns the identity of the killer when he sees Spralls shuffle a deck of cards. He forms a vigilante party and rids the community of Spralls and his gang.
Not realizing he is a bandit The Girl, owner of the Polka Saloon, falls in love with Ramerrez. Trapped by a snowstorm Ramerrez is forced to stay the night with The Girl. Upon discovering the situation jealousy drives dancer Nina Micheltorena to reveal his identity and whereabouts to Sheriff Jack Rance, who also loves The Girl. Ramerrez is shot trying to escape, and though she denies his presence she shelters him. Drops of blood prove lead to his discovery. Taking a chance The Girl wins both their freedom in a poker game with the sheriff. However incited by Nina, vigilantes are about to lynch Ramerrez when the sheriff interferes, explains his bargain, and restores him to The Girl.
Jeanne La Roche lives alone with her brother in the great northwestern country. Jacques is a ne'er-do-well and has fallen under the suspicion of the mounted police, two of whom are dispatched to arrest him for robbery. The stolen goods are found in his home. Jeanne is too young to be left in their lonely cabin, so she is taken to the post, where the wife of the proprietor welcomes her and gives her a home. Several years later, Donald McLean wins her for his wife. Meantime Jacques escapes from prison, eludes his pursuers and takes refuge in McLean's home.
A couple of rowdy gamblers, a cowboy, and a woman undercover.
Returning to his father's cattle ranch after the excitement of serving in combat overseas, Bud McGraw becomes restless, and his father decides to send him to an old friend who commands the Border Police in Texas. On the way he meets Peggy Hughes, accompanying her Uncle Graham, a customs inspector, and he retrieves her hat from the rails of a train. At the headquarters, numerous scrapes and fights win him the admiration of, and friendship with, the men. Lazaro, a Secret Service agent, invites Mrs. Graham and Peggy, who are staying at the border station, for an automobile ride, and they are captured by bandits and held for ransom. Bud and his pals deliver the ransom and discover that Lazaro is the bandit chief. Lazaro refuses to release Peggy, but a jealous rival, Nita de Garma, causes his downfall and shoots him as the Border Police arrive to rescue the party.
Francelia Billington and Dorothy Gish battle outlaw Ralph Lewis out on the range with assistance from ranch foreman Donald Crisp.
The Northwest Mounties are after Cheyenne Harry for the murder of an Indian boy, and the only witness to the crime is a priest - who can't tell what he saw because the real killer, Black Michael, has confessed to him.