In this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel, adventurer Dick Gale (E.K. Lincoln) is traveling through the Southwest. He helps rescue Mercedes Castanada (Margery Wilson) from the clutches of notorious outlaw Rojas (Walter Long). Mercedes' fiancé, Captain George Thorne (Edward Coxen), entrusts her to Gale's care when he returns to duty.
A young soldier returns from the war to find his western homeland despoiled by conflict between the wheat farmers and a crooked lawyer.
Ailing ranch owner Al Auchincloss (Harry Lorraine) sends for his two nieces, Helen and Bo Raynor (Claire Adams and Charlotte Pierce), who are his heirs. Milt Dale, who lives in the forest (Gantvoort), comes down to help round up the cattle, and a romance springs up between him and Helen. This does not please Harvey Riggs (McKim), who is trying to get control of the ranch.
Hell Bent Wade is the victim of an attack in which is wife is killed and daughter kidnapped. A couple of decades later, he is a sheriff known only as the "mysterious rider," because of his nighttime prowls in search of cattle rustlers.
