While on a vacation, an elderly Buffalo Bill dreams of his adventures as a young man when he scouted for the cavalry, fought Indians and captured outlaws.
Brig Harris, a renegade Mexican, casts off his sweetheart, telling her he is tired of her. Harris and a pal now find that a shipment of ore from the Catspaw mine is to be left overnight at the house of Barnes, the town agent. A plot to rob Barnes is instantly laid. Barnes is also a doctor, and Harris lures him to his shack by shamming sickness.
The Goddess, the prettiest and best-natured girl that ever graced that little mining town, meets the tenderfoot prospector and leaves him another worshiper of her. His chances, however, are slim for Blue-grass Pete has won her affections, he having at an opportune moment saved her from the fangs of a snake which was about to attack her. Pete's affections turn to the Goddess's sister, while Pete's friends plot to rob.
Bill Simpson, a sturdy young Westerner, is made a deputy and his star is forwarded to him. Simpson is in love with pretty Olive Farnum, a daughter of the plains, and they are practically engaged. Dolores, a Mexican girl, also loves Simpson and plans to break his engagement to Olive. She enlists the aid of Pedro, a Mexican lover
Tom Fleming, a Western bandit, and his pal, Morgan, hold up the stage. Fleming dispatches Morgan to town to inform him when the stage leaves. Fleming now receives a letter from his wife back east, in which she tells him she and their little girl pray every night that he will always remain an honest, faithful husband and father.
A deserting soldier encounters a wagon train of settlers. When they are faced with an Indian attack, he risks court martial to return to the Army post for help.
Iola, the little Indian girl, is held captive by a gang of cutthroats but is soon rescued by Jack Harper, a prospector. She is truly grateful to Jack, and regards him as something different from other white people. Jack's sweetheart and her father are travellers in a wagon-train headed for this place, and, not having much luck so far, he is somewhat gloomy. Iola learns the reason, and promises to help him find gold. "Will you?" he says, "Yes." "Cross your heart?" This cross-your-heart action mystifies Iola. She thinks it is a sort of tribe insignia and tells her people that "Crossheart" people are all right. Iola surely pays her debt of gratitude, not only in finding gold, but in giving her life to protect Jack's sweetheart from her own people.
Ruby Blackwell, typical young girl of Arizona, lives with her brother Tom, and their widowed mother in a cabin in the mountains. One day Tom takes Ruby on a lion hunt. They track a puma, or mountain lion. Tom shoots the beast, which, wounded, bounds into the canyon. Tom instructs Ruby to proceed to the ridge and await him there, while he follows the puma up the mountainside. Ruby discovers the cubs belonging to the puma which Tom has shot, and she immediately becomes so engrossed in playing with the huge kittens that she forgets the rendezvous her brother had appointed. Tom finally locates her. The cubs are taken home. They grow up around Ruby like friendly dogs. Pete Lopez, a bad Mexican, who admires Ruby very much, tries to steal one of them at night, after Ruby has refused to sell the animal to him, and the baby puma defends itself vigorously until Tom and Ruby rush to its rescue...
Old Perkins, a ranchman, has a bevy of pretty daughters, ranging in age from five years up to twenty. Perkins will not permit any love making between the girls and the cowboys, the most ardent of whom is "Alkali" Ike. "Alkali" likes Jennie, and the other boys each have their individual sweetheart.
Pretty Nan Morgan is admired by all the boys in Lariat and likes them, every one, but her heart belongs to Broncho Billy, who proudly announces to the boys one day that he wants to introduce them "to the future Mrs. Broncho." Matters glide along smoothly until about the time Broncho is thinking of putting the ring on Nan's finger.
When Indians attack a white settlement, a brave kidnaps a white baby to give to his wife as a replacement for their dead baby. The white mother goes to the Indian camp to look for her child and is captured by the Indians who plan to torture her. The settlers attack the Indian camp, destroying it completely and killing the braves, while the Indian wife returns the baby to the white woman and allows her to escape. The Indian wife mourns her baby at its grave, unaware of the destruction of the Indian camp.
Pretty Bessie King has all the cowboys' hearts thumping ragtime jigs against their ribs whenever she comes to town, and Alkali is the hardest hit of all. After a series of flirtations she finally takes Alkali for better or worse and they are married. A year later a small son and heir keeps Alkali doing Marathons across the midnight floors.
The emigrants are seen fighting the hordes of redskins. The hero rides to the settlement for help and engages in a thrilling duel with pursuing Indians. The settlers swoop down on the unprotected Indian village and burn it up. The savages seeing the flames, hurry back and fall into an ambush. They are attacked from the rear by the emigrants and from the front by the settlers. In a wild scene of carnage the surprised Indians are mowed down by the hail of bullets, horses and riders falling in tangled masses.
Joe, "The Bad Man of San Fernand," is one tough customer. He sets his sights on a lovely young lady who spurns his advances and elopes with a fresh-faced young cowpoke. An angry Joe eventually gets his revenge.
A western prospector, who has been unusually lucky, prepares to return east to his wife. The suspicious actions of a gypsy horse-trader, whom he has seen loitering near his cabin, prompts him to take his gold to the bank, but on the way he is thrown from his horse and suffers fatal injuries. A young man and woman come on the scene and are given the gold, after they promise the dying man to send a portion of it to his wife. Later, the gypsy, learning who got the gold, attacks the mother of the young people and escapes with the treasure.