Before he was murdered Grandpa Martin found a gold mine. He failed to record it and now everyone is looking for Martin's old horse that can lead them to it. When under-cover Texas Ranger Autry arrives to investigate, he is accused of the murder and finds the Sheriff after him.
Danny, a greenhorn from New York comes to the Mexican border in search for his older brother whom he has always looked up to. A Texas Ranger charged with bringing in, El Tigre and his gang of bandits, takes Danny under his wing.
Suave gambler Clay Watson, cocky sharpshooter Moses Lang, and wily thespian Edwin Kean are a trio of criminals in the Old West. The motley threesome are forced to form an uneasy alliance in order to find $400,000 dollars in stolen money.
Sam and Ned Porter are little thugs, riding together and robbing banks. One night, Sam gets captured by mysterious bounty hunters who offer to keep him alive only if he turns his brother in. Redemption will come at a high price.
Molly, the shy, romance-starved wife of an arrogant frontier sheriff, finds herself drawn to a prisoner in her husband's jail. This prisoner, a handsome young man named Johnny, plays on Molly's sympathy and convinces her to help him escape. Molly then accompanies Johnny on his cross-country flight but soon learns he's simply been using her. Molly makes the best of the situation, however, and by the time the sheriff's posse catches up with them, Molly shows that she's learned how to assert herself.
Karukan, a ronin samurai, travels to the old west after his clan fails to stop a beast that has escaped Japan. He hires Langdon, to accompany him to stop the beast from killing.
Pony Express riders and station keepers face deadly terrain, hostile Native Americans, and dangerous outlaws to transport mail across the untamed frontier. Their life-and-death adventures unite the country and become the stuff of legends.
Sandwiched in between the numerous musical numbers, the Gabby Whittaker and Madden rodeo's are competing for bookings. When Gabby gets a date in Albuquerque, Madden has his man destroy his equipment. Roy finds a broken rawhide rope at the scene and uses it to bring Madden to justice.
Bad guys plot to trick a newly arrived Eastern girl out of a ranch which belongs to her infant ward. Roy, of course, saves the ranch for the girl. Songs include "I'm Headin's for the Home Corral," "He's a No Good Son of a Gun," "Sandman Lullaby," "Song of the San Joaquin," and "I'm a Cowboy Rockefeller."
It's 1860 and the old Spanish land grants are being surveyed. Montez is after part of Don Regas' rancho and gets the surveyor to alter the boundary. But Don Regas still has the original grant written on a bandanna. Montez sends Indians after it but Bill Cody and Gabby fight them off and a wounded Gabby unknowingly ends up with the missing million dollar deed wrapped around his arm for a bandage.
Hank Davis kills Jack Lewis to get his gold mine. Bruce Conway brings him in but then realizes Davis is the only one that knows where the mine is. Bruce and his pal Whitey rescue Davis from the lynch mob only to have Davis' gang catch them and leave them in the desert to die.
Bill Hickok, assisted by Calamity Jane, is after a foreign agent and his guerrilla band who are trying to take over some western territory just as the Civil War is coming to a close.
The earliest surviving film featuring Lon Chaney in a major role, By the Sun's Ray's was but one of several 2-reel westerns starring the florid Murdock MacQuarrie. MacQuarrie plays a detective investigating a series of gold shipment robberies. Along the way, he falls for a mine superintendent's pretty daughter (Agnes Vernon), much to the dismay of a sullen mine office clerk (Chaney), who is also smitten with the girl...