Secret Serviceman Allen takes a job at Bart Stevens' mine in order to find evidence proving that Stevens is a mail robber named Smoke Gublen. He does - but by then, he is in love with the man's sister - and to make things harder, Stevens saves his life...
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.
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.
Moran, blind to ambition, has been a long-time friend of the widow Casey. In his own way Moran likes the widow, but his strongest affection is for her young son. The boy, in turn, loves the man's friendship and the knife the man has given him. The time comes when the widow and Moran fight.
Mollie Owens, engaged to sheriff’s deputy Dick Calvert, is taken captive by outlaw Monk Turgis and imprisoned in the "death cabin” so called because everyone shunned it after of two mysterious murders were committed there. Turgis and his friend try to scare money out of Mollie's mother, but Dick sets out on their trail. He sees one of them enter the cabin and immediately investigates.
Morton, encouraged by Watson, who wants to expel him from the bank, is the president who uses the bank's money for his private speculations. He gets very involved and when the matter is brought to the attention of the directors, he is asked to oblige to the default or go to prison. Morton would commit suicide except for his stenographer, Mary Lane, a beautiful and intelligent girl. She takes him in and discusses the matter with Morton's son, whom she loves.
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.
After years of scientific research Thomas Kellner, an eccentric chemist, succeeds in manufacturing an imitation diamond, with the help of his son Jack.
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.
Discouraged by the loss of his job and unable to find another young shipping clerk Clark heads west, promising his mother that he will send for her when he finds a decent job. Instead, he falls into bad company. Finding it hard to make money he first works in prospecting without success until finally securing a job in a mine.
Mining foreman Jimson is fired by Pedro and Madro when they falsely accuse him of trying to steal ore. When they attack him, he is forced to strike back, and they swear revenge. Their enmity intensifies when Jimson rescues Nina, a Mexican girl, from Pedro's unwanted attentions.
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.
Jeremy Dexter, Sheriff of Sherman County, warns Lanky Mason to leave town after being involved in a shootout the night before killing a Mexican. The sheriff tells Lanky that although he remembers that Lanky had saved his little daughter's life by swimming across a stream during a flood and that Lanky's heroic work during a time when the smelter caught fire had saved the town from destruction, it was imperative for the good of the town that Lanky leave.
The sheriff loses his office and a new sheriff comes in. Now the ex-sheriff is going bad, drinking, etc., with no ambition. The tough guys take advantage of his loss of ambition and indignities pile up on him and he makes no protest. He meets the new sheriff's little boy and they become fast friends.
Jerry Kane, a man down on his luck who inherits money but selflessly gives most of it to Maizie Wallace and her sick father. The money is then stolen by two crooks, Pinny Falk and Big Dan Jaffry, leading to a series of events involving a pursuit, mistaken identity, a fight, and a rescue by a posse. Ultimately, the crooks are captured, the money is recovered, and Jerry and Maizie agree to share their future together.
Miner Jim Mann is indifferent to the new baby and sees him as nothing more than an additional burden. His wife Lucy looks after the baby and is unable to help much with the work, and Jim's dinner is often late. He grows to dislike the child and refuses to hold or pet him. Dawson, another miner, and his wife and their small baby occupy the cabin on the adjacent claim.
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.
The 15-chapter plot follows, in a fanciful manner, the General Fremont expedition into Spanish California to acquire California for the United States, and the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Chapter titles: 1. Soldiers of Fortune 2. Red Men and White 3. A Night of Terror 4. The Empire Builders 5. A Web of Lies 6. Demetroff's Vow 7. Facing Death 8. Under the Bear Flag 9. A Ride of Peril 10. Yellow Metal and Blue Blood 11. Gold Madness 12. Crimson Nights 13. Vigilante's Justice 14. For Life and Love 15. Trail's End
Dan Melton is in love with Daisy Dale, who, being of a coquettish disposition, permits herself to become infatuated with Soapy Smith, gentleman gambler. Sheriff Melton is greatly worried by the continual holdups committed by Black Jack, a desperado, who has become the terror of the mountains. His excursions in quest of the bandit compel him to neglect Daisy somewhat. One day Daisy meets with an accident while riding and applies for assistance at a lonely shack in the hills. To her astonishment Soapy Smith opens the door. She accepts his invitation to enter. Once she is inside, however, Soapy betrays his real character and attacks her. Daisy's screams are heard by Morristette, a Mexican, who rushes in and intervenes. Smarting under the blow Soapy deals him, he gallops to town and informs the sheriff. On arriving at the shack to rescue his sweetheart Melton finds that Soapy Smith and the long-sought desperado. Black Jack, are one and the same.