Broncho Billy saves an Indian from starvation. The Indian's intelligence is soon discovered by Broncho, who determines to make the red man a partner in his prospecting camp. An accident renders the prospector unconscious and the Indian hastens to the village for a doctor. The physician discovers that Broncho Billy's marred face is filled with dirt and gold. He tries to bribe the Indian. "Where did the explosion occur? See, Buck, I'm going to give you this money, tell me?" But the Indian is loyal.
Old Harry Todd and his daughter, Marguerite, are in the west prospecting for gold. They meet Broncho Billy, who takes dinner with them and later continues on his way. As he is riding across the plains thinking of Marguerite, he happens to see an Indian at the top of a hill, looking down upon the prospector and his daughter. Broncho Billy warns Todd and his daughter.
Charles Clemens, a ranch owner, sends a letter to Fred Church, his foreman, informing him that his son and daughter are coming to spend their vacation on the ranch. Church and the boys meet the stage, and to their amazement and secret joy, find that the boy is very effeminate. What the boys do to Clarence is a scream, hut his sister, who is more of a boy than he is, gets even with them for hazing her brother, and the boys are forced to take off their hats to her.
To err is human, but in the end, goodness of heart will prevail and the one who has committed an offense against man-made laws may come out of the mire and develop into a law abiding and god-fearing citizen. Broncho Billy, from being one of the most desperate characters in the west, is reformed through the kind treatment accorded him at the hands of the sheriff and his wife, and is made deputy.
A knight of the grip has many inconveniences to contend with, and not only that, but often his very life is in danger. Such is the case with John Duncan, a traveling man, who was obliged to remain overnight at a small inn located in the far west. The hotel-keeper, an unscrupulous Italian, with the help of two ruffians, schemes to steal Duncan's money and do away with him.
Broncho Billy hears a child scream and rushes on the scene in time to prevent Jim Haley, a big brute of a man, from beating his little daughter, Josie, with a horse whip. Later, Haley and Pedro, a half-breed, are caught rustling cattle and are given the customary treatment, but not before Haley writes a note to Josie, stating that the boys will take care of her. The boys send Josie east to school and ten years later, when she returns a young lady, they all fall in love with her.
Raymond Beahan, a young chap from the city, pays a visit to his uncle, John Purcell, the sheriff. The day after he arrives, he dresses up in his uncle's hat, cartridge belt, chaps, etc., and is about to take an old gun from the wall to put in his belt when his uncle asks him not to take the gun, as he prizes it very highly. He then tells the boy the story of how the gun came into his possession. The story is so vivid to the boy, that when his uncle leaves him to round up some bandits, and he is left alone in the cabin, he falls asleep and dreams the same story his uncle has just related to him, only HE is the hero.
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.
"Coke" Morgan, a hopeless cocaine fiend with a brilliant but crooked mind, evolves a clever plan of wiretapping to separate the unwary from their money.
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.