| Plot Summary |
The story is woven about an old cattle raiser, John Ralston, whose annoyance at the depredations on his stock by a hand of rustlers leads him to offer a reward for their capture. The opening scene of the picture occurs in front of a "thirst parlor" in a small Western town, where Ralston is distributing handbills to a crowd of cowpunchers and loungers, offering the reward above mentioned. Cherokee, a half-breed and leader of the very band of rustlers wanted, happens to be present, and after reading one of the bills he mounts his thoroughbred and rides rapidly away. We are then taken to the camp of his followers, where to the great amusement of the dare-devil band he reads the offer of reward made by Ralston. So reckless arc these men, that instead of paying heed to the warning, they determine to make another raid the next morning. Cherokee leaves his companions, instructing them to procure as much rest as possible for there is much work cut for them, and is next seen riding out to a little log cabin, the home of his Indian sweetheart Wahnita. It is here he keeps his branding irons with which he changes the brands on the cattle he steals. Telling Wahnita that he has work to do and cannot tarry long, he bids her an affectionate adieu and rides away to join his men. In the meantime Ralston's offer of reward has roused the cattlemen and cowboys of the entire valley, and preparations are at once begun to hunt down the much hated cattle rustlers. Cherokee, rousing his followers the next morning, is out on his nefarious undertaking. They soon come upon a herd of fine cattle browsing at the edge of the pines, and surrounding them, they soon have them rounded up in an old abandoned corral in a secluded spot in the forest. Where, confident of their safety from discovery, they begin to brand the calves found in the herd. While they are busily engaged in this work, a ranch woman on her way through the forest to the nearest settlement rides up to the rear of the old corral, unseen by the rustlers, and taking in at a glance the unlawful work going on, she gallops rapidly away to spread the alarm. At the first habitation she comes to she sends for girl who responds to her call to arouse the boys of the Ralston ranch. Like a winged messenger the girl springs lightly to the back of a broncho and is off like the wind. Dashing to the cowboys' camp she spreads the news, and with a yell of exultation fifty whirlwind riders spring to their horses, and following the girl are soon lost to view on the crest of a distant rise. Again we see the rustlers, who are still at their branding, when they are suddenly arrested in their tracks by the distant pounding of a hundred pairs of hoofs. Knowing full well the meaning of that sound, without further delay they mount their saddled horses and plunge at once into the forest, with the hope of eluding their relentless pursuers, but they are too late; the leader of the cowboys sees their retreating forms, and with fierce energy the chase begins. Now follows a thrilling ride for life. Feeling that their only hope is to abandon their jaded horses and take to the depths of the forest on foot, the wily Cherokee orders his men to dismount and try to demoralize their pursuers by sending a volley into their midst as they come around a bend in the road. The plan is carried out, but the cowboys are determined, and dismounting, take up the chase on foot, which, after a short fight, ends in the capture of the rustlers, but not Cherokee, who. by strategy, escapes. The victorious cowboys then ride to the former camp of the rustlers and there capture the Mexican cook, who is frightened into revealing the possible hiding place of his leader. The hunt is then resumed and ends at the home of Wahinita, where Cherokee has taken shelter. Here he is finally captured, but not without a desperate fight, in which he is badly wounded. The prisoners are all taken to the Ralston ranch and an impromptu court formed, by which trial the rustlers arc sentenced to pay the penalty usually meted out to cattle thieves. But through the pleadings of Wahnita, and because of his wounds, Cherokee is given a day's respite and is locked up in a log house on the ranch under guard, with the Mexican cook as his only companion. During the night his wounds, which are many, prove fatal, and he dies in the arms of his comrade. When the cowboys come next morning to get him they find that a merciful Providence has intervened, and and the leader of the rustlers has already paid the penalty. Left alone with the body of her outlaw lover, poor Wahnita, the faithful Indian sweetheart, bewails her loss.
Written by Moving Picture World synopsis
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