A 15-chapter Western serial. The serial involves the mystery of the murder of William Stillman (Wells) and the finding of the heir to his fortune. Silent Joe (Farnum) arrives in an effort to discover the murderer and prove that he is the true heir. He and the heroine Lou (Anderson) have their adventures in the mountainous terrain with its "vanishing trails." They are aided by The Shadow (Orlamond), a demented scientist with his trained dog, and several remarkable, death-dealing inventions.
Dr. Frankenstein's Granddaughter Maria, and her brother assistant Rudolph, moved to the old west because the lightning storms there are more frequent and intense, which allows them to work on the experiments of their grandfather. But the experiments are failing and Rudolph's been secretly killing the corpses afterwards. Meanwhile, the Lopez family leaves the town because of the evil going on there
The tenderfoot came into camp with his ill-gotten money intending to purchase a claim. The faker salted a claim, hoping thereby to secure the money. But the gambler got ahead of him through cheating at cards. Later the tenderfoot sought to regain his money and in the struggle it fell into worthier hands.
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.
Ben Hart, the youthful mining expert, arrived at Red Rock and promptly sought out pretty Mabel Whitaker and her mother, who had inherited a map purporting to lead to a gold deposit. Ben made an appointment to look at the deposit and did so - quite unaware that Jim Halliday, with two bad pals, kept close watch of his every movement.
Big Ben from the Bar N Ranch called often on Margaret. As the two were inseparable, it soon became known that they would soon marry. This news greatly displeased Bill Higgins, who promptly set about to make trouble. He wrote an anonymous note and attached it to Ben's saddle, saying " She don't love you. She was with Bill Higgins all day yesterday. A Friend." When Ben found it he frowned and tucked it idly into his pocket. This happened regularly thereafter. If Ben had been a trifle older he might have smiled derisively, but he didn't. Youth and jealousy are old acquaintances and so Ben made his visits shorter and shorter. One day, lonesomeness overcame him and he sent the notes in a bundle to Margy. She read them and promptly burst into tears.
While out West, prospector Harry Webb makes enemies of a con artist, Mark Brenton and the con's crooked lawyer, Frank Beekman. Jack goes to the city and meets singer Janice Williams in a cabaret. They become engaged, but Brenton also has designs on her. He tricks her into going to a room to meet with him, and Webb, hearing of the scheme, follows. What he finds when he gets there is Brenton on the floor, dead, and Janice holding a gun.
One of a multitude of short Westerns directed by D.W. Griffith in the early days of film has the distinction of being the screen debut of Western star Harry Carey in a minor role.
Gentleman Joe is a silent Western short.
After being unfaithful to "The Stranger", who committed a murder on her account, Cherry Millard, known as "The Siren", leaves to work in a dance hall in the Western town of Nugget. When Burt Hall arrives in town to deliver a will to the heirs of Bruce McClade, he is captivated by Cherry, who learns of Burt's mission. Discovering that the will dictates that Dr. Langdon, a friend of the family, is to receive $25,000, Cherry decides to impersonate Langdon's daughter Rose and thus gain possession of the money. In the meantime, The Stranger, who has been freed from jail, returns, recognizes Cherry as The Siren and kills her. This frees Burt from her evil spell, and The Stranger, now insane, follows The Siren's spirit into the desert.
When his wife is killed by the evil Marques de Bazan, Spanish army officer Dorando becomes a notorious outlaw known as El Bandolero. He kidnaps Bazan's son Ramon and has him raised by one of his own men. When Ramon grows up to be a man he meets and falls in love with El Bandolero's beautiful daughter Petra. Bandolero forbids his daughter from seeing Ramon, so Ramon leaves to become a bullfighter. A vengeful young woman he has spurned sets up Ramon to be gored by a vicious young bull. Complications ensue.
Rival telephone crews are in a race to be the first to connect telephone service between Rawlings and Cheynne, Wyoming. Lineman Tom Remington's girlfriend is the daughter of one crew foreman, who wants to win the race in order to re-establish himself in the business. However, the foreman of the other crew has his own scheme to win the race, and will stop at nothing--including kidnapping--to accomplish it.
A boy's father is an unjustly accused fugitive, and the boy's scheming uncle plots to become the youngster's guardian and take over the family fortune.
The only key to a young woman's fortune lies in a marking on the leg of a horse called The Ghost of the Gauchos. But the woman's guardian, her uncle, plots to steal her wealth.
Bruce McLeod returns from the goldfields to find that his wife has left home with another man, taking their child. After the death of the mother, the child is adopted by Cherie, a local dancehall girl ostracized by the community. Cullum, a gambler who earlier seduced Mrs. McLeod, drifts into the town, and failing to win Cherie, he swears vengeance. McLeod, seeking the man who wrecked his home, falls in love with Cherie but scorns her when he discovers that she is a dancer. Ultimately, the child identifies Cullum as the gambler who lured Mrs. McLeod from her home. In the ensuing fight, Cullum is shot by a halfbreed, and Bruce is happily united with Cherie.
A drifter hobo is falsely accused of killing a saloon owner
Dolly Mainard, en route to her father, a major at Fort Blaine, is escorted through dangerous Sioux territory by a cavalry detachment and Army scout Jim Cardigan. When Captain Blackwell offends some braves of Chief Gray Wolf's tribe, Jim is sent ahead to the Indian camp to ask for peace. Imprisoned by the Indians, he sends a message to Blackwell not to advance; Donlin, a renegade scout, tears the note in such a way that the message is distorted, and the entire force is killed. When Jim escapes, he is accused of treason by Blackwell, court-martialed, and sentenced to death; however, he escapes and rescues Dolly, her father, and Blackwell from Donlin's band of renegades. Jim discovers the missing portion of the note in Donlin's hat, proving his innocence. Dolly remains to become his wife.
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.
Tiger Thompson promises a dying train robber to mind his innocent daughter and return the stolen loot. Along the way, Thompson is attacked by the dead man's gang but manages to reach the law (and the girl) in one piece and with the stolen money intact.