Sophie writes a note to her aunt telling her that she is undecided whether she will marry Slippery Slim or Mustang Pete, but says she will accept the one who buys the best-looking horse.
Rose Boland, a pretty young ranch owner, quarrels with her foreman because she dislikes his attentions. She discharges him from her employ, and her cowboys eject him from the ranch. The disgruntled foreman proceeds to join a band of cattle rustlers and engages with them in the looting of cattle.
Esra Kincaid takes land by force and, having taken the Espinoza land, his sights are set on the Castro rancho. Government agent Kearney holds him off till the cavalry shows up and he can declare his love for Juanita, called “the Rose of the Rancho.”
The division superintendent of the Montana Idaho R.R. finds it necessary to buy the property of an old settler in order to clear the right of way. The old man, with his daughter, has occupied the same cabin for years, and refuses to sell his holdings. The superintendent wires the general manager, who sends Broncho Billy, his assistant, with orders to get possession of the land at any cost. Broncho offers the old man an enormous amount, but is flatly refused. The daughter then leads Broncho into the yard, where he is shown the grave in which her mother has been laid to rest several years before. This is their reason for refusing to sell.
Slippery Slim and Sophie are deeply in love. Slim incurs the enmity of Hiram Clutts, Sophie's father, and Mustang Pete. They swear vengeance. Mustang writes a note to Slim, signing Sophie's name, asking him to meet her in a cemetery. Slim finds a band of men waiting clad in sheets. He flees and asks Sophie to save him.
A Texas settler and his daughter, Sally, start on a journey in a prairie schooner after bidding farewell to Sally's mother and to Tom, the ranger, who is operating in the neighborhood on a lookout for cattle rustlers and illicit whiskey sellers. The great wagon is hauled out of the corral by a pair of spirited horses, while ranger Tom departs to take up the trail of a "bootlegger" who is reported to have been operating among the Indians thereabouts.
The city girl decides to turn over a new leaf and go west where she can start life anew. Several years later finds her the wife of a minister in a small western town and extremely happy. One day she and her husband find Broncho Billy, an outlaw, lying in the road suffering from a wound. They take him to their home, and while the minister hastens for a doctor, his wife dresses the wound. She steps into an adjoining room, where she is confronted by the man who had been so cruel to her years before. He threatens to expose her if she refuses to give him money.
Mabel Madden, thrown upon her own resources, inherits a saloon from her father. She is somewhat infatuated with Tom Mason, against whom suspicions have been aroused of rustling cattle from the neighboring ranchmen. But she is also a great admirer of the intrepid sheriff.
When beautiful Salomy Jane resists the romantic advances of a young ruffian, she is rescued by Jack Dart, who has his own additional reasons for tangling with the man. Jack fights the ruffian and kills him. He escapes with the law on his trail, for it is (wrongly) presumed that he is also the man who held up the stagecoach. Salomy Jane comes to his rescue when he is captured and about to be lynched.
The entire town is terrorized. Broncho Billy has again been drinking and is shooting at everything in sight. After "shooting up" a saloon and grocery store Broncho goes to his cabin where he falls asleep. The sheriff and his men arrive, and after a fierce struggle overpower him. The man stationed outside suddenly rushes in and informs them that Broncho's mother has arrived to pay him a visit. The news quickly sobers Broncho, and the sheriff seeing his distress, pins his star on him, and himself dons the handcuffs. When his mother enters she thinks Broncho is the sheriff, and takes pity on the prisoner.
Sophie, who boasts the most perfect figure in the world, attracts the attention of every man in town when she arrives in Snakeville to demonstrate corsets.
The sheriff is in love with a beautiful widow. The widow has a brother who is in secret a rascal and a member of a gang of bandits. The sheriff and the widow have arrived at an understanding and she is wearing his ring. One day four masked men ride into the village, loot the bank, terrorize the community and ride away with a big sack of gold. The sheriff goes in pursuit, and after a lot of shooting, fast riding and acrobatic horsemanship, the bank looters are caught. When the masks are removed, the sheriff discovers to his consternation that the brother of the handsome widow is the chief of the band. Duty stares at him with unsmiling face.
Having refused to accompany either Broncho Billy or the mail carrier to a dance at the town hall, Broncho's sweetheart accepts the invitation of his best pal. Broncho takes the defeat gracefully and decides to leave the country, while the mail carrier tries to force her to go with him. She pulls a gun on him. He snatches it away from her, then leaves a note telling that he will turn the "plaything" over to her sweetheart if he calls for it at the saloon. Her sweetheart is afraid to do this, but tells Broncho of the affair and he immediately goes to the saloon, where he overpowers the mail carrier, taking the gun away from him. He then departs.
Jimmy Hayes joins the Texas rangers. He causes much merriment by introducing to his new friends an ugly horned toad, around the neck of which he has tied a bright ribbon. He has named the horned toad "Muriel," and it is his constant companion, having a domicile within his flannel shirt.
Broncho Billy, the town good-for-nothing, makes his headquarters at the saloon, where he makes a few cents each day by sweeping out the place. One morning the hotel proprietor, the general store keeper and the chairman of the town board, upon going to their places of business, find that they have been robbed.
The ranchman's daughter is in love with Jack of the Rancho and becomes engaged to him, but Pa comes on their lovemaking and rudely separates them. Following an idea which he worked on during a visit to New York, Pa writes to a Frenchman, a lawyer there, and tells him he will marry his daughter to a count the lawyer will provide. The lawyer accordingly looks up an Italian cook, decks him out with a red sash, etc., and sends him west for the easy money.
Mustang Pete receives a letter from his daughter, Sophie, who is away at boarding school, asking permission to bring some girls home with her to spend their vacation. Mustang flatly refuses. That afternoon he and Slippery Slim have a fight over a checker game, and to get "square" Slim advertises the fact that he will pay his ranch hands double the salary that Mustang will pay. As a result Slim gets all of Mustang's helpers. Mustang then writes to Sophie and tells her to bring home the girls if she cares to. The girls arrive the following day and Mustang has an abundance of help, all of Slim's helpers deserting him.