In these days of women's equal rights, it is not strange to find the fair sex taking the places of men in every occupation. Women physicians are not unusual, but a really beautiful one is, and would have her hands full taking care of every lovesick swain, who would develop every known disease to have the pleasure of letting her feel his pulse or hold his head.
Being in ill health, Fred Church goes west. Arriving there, he goes into partnership with Carl Stockdale. A few days after they strike pay dirt, Fred is taken with a paroxysm of coughing and Stockdale sends him back to the cabin to rest up. Realizing that the end is near, he writes a letter to his mother and sister, telling them he is going into the valley and not to worry if they do not hear from him, that his partner will send them his share every week.
Broncho Billy loses his job and is forced to go west in search of employment. He lands in a small western town, where he takes up gold mining. Stockdale, a westerner, also meeting with bad luck, consults Broncho Billy, and the two determine to hold up the stagecoach that day.
While on the way to visit her mother, Mrs. Bailey stops to feed the horses. She discovers that the oats had leaked out of the bag and she is compelled to ask assistance of a party camping nearby. During her absence from the buggy, her young daughter strays off into the woods and falls over a high cliff.
In what scenarist C. Gardner Sullivan misleadingly called “The Romantic Adventures of a Woman of the ’50s,” this story has Hart play Jim Brandon, who has just robbed the Wolf Creek stage of a payroll meant for Frank Wilding’s Lost Hope Mine. Fearing another holdup, Wilding reluctantly entrusts his daughter Edith with the next payroll. Confident of his concealed identity, Brandon comes to town, orders drinks at the local saloon, and hears that this is “payday” for the mine. Outside, he realizes Edith will be carrying the payroll and follows her onto the stage. When it stops at the Mountain House Restaurant, Brandon protects Edith from a man forcing his attention on her, which forges an unacknowledged bond between them. strangely leaves her to barricade the door.
An old arrowmaker's daughter, while at the stream, meets a brave from another tribe. They become enamored of each other in the sudden positive way of the savage, and agree to meet at sunset. The chief of the tribe to which the girl belongs, covets and demands her of her father. The father consents, but the girl rebels. At sunset, she meets her lover and tells him what her fate is to be. He tells her that when the moon shines, he will come for her and take her away.
From his hard and lonely life with his foster father, the adopted son finds solace in Cynthia, the neighbor's daughter. Father promises to give them money to start their happy married way, but forgets when a widow, with a little girl, comes home with him as a bride. Then it is that the abandoned well comes into play and father's eyes are opened to his neglect.
Jeremiah Green receives a letter from his niece, stating that she is coming west, and is in the market for a husband. The news scatters fast throughout the western town, and when the fair Sophie arrives, her callers are numerous. One look at the three-hundred-pound debutante is enough to convince the men that they are not eligible for the marriage certificate, especially if Sophie is to be the bride.
Shakespeare the Second and Dan Rice the Third, would-be ham actors, blow into the town of Barnstorm. That afternoon they give a "free" performance, which is indeed terrible. Dan Rice passes the hat, only to receive cat-calls for his trouble. The hotel proprietor orders them to pay their bill and leave town.
A pair of precious loafers in a mining town learn from one of their "kidney" that Dick Mackey's partner, Bill Bryson, has died and that his gold dust is cached in Dick's cabin. They get sober and conclude to rob Mackey, but find that he is too quick on "the draw," and give it up.
A poor man, the father of a young child, wants his offspring to have a Christmas such as every child is deserving of. He is penniless. For the love of his child he commits burglary.
"Chuck" Peters, a gambler, is in love with Nell Braley, the daughter of the town saloon keeper. Nell, however, loves Bob Coleman, a cattleman. The express messenger is held up in the woods and the bandit escapes, leaving a snake hatband as a clue. Coleman inherits money, and as he is riding to the next town, finds the hatband and buckles it around his sombrero.
Herbert Corrington, a would-be gambler and agent for an express company, not satisfied with the necessities of life, tries his luck at roulette, appropriating the express company's money. Robert, the son, is fast traveling in the footsteps of his father. The Sheriff in the next county is sent for a large package of money in Corrington's possession to be delivered to the Blue Ledge Mine for the payroll. Corrington gambles a thousand dollars of this money and loses. Broncho Billy, a professional gambler, loans Corrington the money necessary to replace the funds he had maliciously taken. Corrington gives the gambler a note payable in thirty days or his home as collateral in case of default.
Wanah-to-mah, a son of the forest, is in love with Mah-to-mee. George Bradford, a stranger and prospector, sets camp in the forest and, by his carelessness, sets the forest afire. Mah-to-mee makes a great impression on the stranger and he tries to work his eastern tactics on her. He is rebuked.
Dorothy and her father have staked all their hopes on their mine. While they are awaiting the arrival of Mr. Reid, who is to report on the value of the mine, Pedro, a Mexican, makes familiar advances to Dorothy and is sternly repulsed. Reid arrives and a mutual attraction springs up between himself and Dorothy, to the chagrin of Pedro.
Earl Briggs, a ranchman, and Carl Underwood, a sheriff, are in love with Grace Woodward. Earl is the favored suitor and in time Grace becomes engaged to hire. Sometime later the stage is held up by Broncho Billy, a notorious outlaw. A fierce battle ensues in the woods between the posse and the bandit, in which Broncho Billy is wounded