Hoot is a cowpuncher, somewhat addicted to liquor (when he can get it). His sweetheart, the rancher's daughter, tells him that if he ever takes another drink, their engagement is at an end.
Quiet and fairminded Jack Bliss traces his missing father to Hell's Hole, where he meets Helen Turner and Jack Hall, the leader of an outlaw gang rendezvousing at Hell's Hole. Hall kills Helen's father but fails in his attempts to get rid of Bliss and Helen, and Bliss, singlehanded, takes on the gang while the neighboring ranchers, settlers, and herders unite to clean out the outlaws.
Hoot is the only cattleman in the neighborhood and he is about to be run off the range by the wealthiest sheep man in the district. Hoot is in love with the sheep man's daughter, and refuses to be run off. The little son of the sheep herder strays away and wanders to Hoot's shanty, where Hoot keeps him, sending a note to the father to come after him. A villainous foreman intercepts the note and plots a kidnapping frame-up. After a near tragic climax, Hoot captures and unmasks the villain, winning the girl and the good will of her father.
Coming upon a burning cabin, David Brent discovers the body of Jim Drew, who had been killed in a fight with a drunken Indian. Brent finds in Drew's pocket a letter announcing the impending arrival of Drew's daughter Lorelei. Feeling an obligation to Drew, who once saved his life, Brent journeys to San Francisco to meet Lorelei, who mistakes him for her father. Brent cannot bring himself to break the bad news to her and does not correct her false assumption.
A broken-down cowboy applies for work at one of the Western ranches. The boss agrees to hire the wanderer provided he can ride an unmanageable horse. He consents, rides the horse and gets the job. In accomplishing this "stunt," he arouses the jealousy of the foreman, for the latter learns that the ranchman's daughter has seen the new-comer subdue the wild animal and is beginning to fall in love with him. To prevent this the villain accuses his rival of many misdeeds, but in the end is a victim of his own folly.
Three siblings, Tom, Jack and Mary escape poverty in the big city to find happiness in the wild west. They split up and soon find each other again on in the opposite side of the law.
The tough outlaw 'Sierra' Bill falls in love with the traveling girl violinist Nelly Gray. Sierra forces her into marrying him. They have a child, but family life is interrupted by the gambler Ringe, who not only persuades Nelly to leave her husband but ruins Sierra at the gaming table. With thoughts of vengeance, the angry Sierra breaks out of jail and goes after Ringe.
Tex Benton (cowboy star Tom Mix) wants to marry Janet McWhorter (Kathleen O'Connor), but her father (Charles K. French) will give his blessings only if Tex works on his sheep ranch. Tex, a cattleman through and through, refuses and gets his aggressions out by stirring things up at the local saloon.