The Verdict of the Desert

"Poker" Gibbs and his gang run the booming mining town of Nugget. Jack Dawson comes to town after finding gold but decides to return to the desert after attempts by Gibbs's gang to cheat him at cards and to steal the map to his mine. (It is revealed that Gibbs fathered the illegitimate child of Jack's sister and that Jack had forced Gibbs to marry her; also, that Gibbs and Tom Davis, Gibbs's longtime associate, later killed Jack's father while rustling his cattle and let the blame fall on Jack.) Gibbs, Tom, and a halfbreed Indian pursue Jack, using "Roulette" Rose, Gibbs's mistress, as a decoy. They, in turn, are followed by Laura, Tom's sister, who has been searching for Tom for several years. Gibbs abandons Tom and the Indian after a dispute over water. Laura finds her dying brother, shot by the Indian, and he reveals Jack's innocence of the murder. She goes on to find Jack. The next morning, after a heavy rainstorm, Gibbs falls from a cliff during a fight with Jack. Jack and Laura later marry, and Rose reforms.