Wanderer of the Wasteland

While crossing the Mojave Desert in 1880, the Rafferty family, little Chito, Chito's Irish father, Papa Mike, and Spanish mother Mama, hear cries for help and find a boy stumbling alone through the sands. The boy, Adam Larey, recounts the story of his mother's sudden death and father's subsequent murder and directs the Raffertys to his parents' wagon. There, beside the bodies, they find the murderer's dead horse, and when Adam notices the brand of the Crescent J ranch on the animal's flank, he vows to avenge his father's death. Adam is adopted by the Raffertys, and ten years later, the family owns a sheep ranch in Randsburg, California and the boys have grown to adulthood. Since the age of fifteen, Adam has wandered the wastelands in search of his father's killer. Upon returning to Randsburg from an expedition, Adam sees the Crescent J brand on a suitcase owned by Jeannie Collinshaw, who is passing through town. After Jeannie's stage leaves town, Adam learns from the station master that her destination is Pichacho, Arizona. Accompanied by Chito, Adam follows Jeannie to the town of Pichacho where, outside the saloon, he sees a horse bearing the Crescent J brand. Upon discovering that the animal belongs to Jay Collinshaw, Jeannie's brother, Adam approaches Jay, who is immersed in a game of poker. Resentful at being interrupted by a sheep rancher, Jay pulls a gun on Adam and begins to shoot at his feet, causing Adam to draw his own weapon and shoot Jay in the wrist. After leaving the saloon, Adam and Chito register at the local hotel. Later, Jeannie visits Adam to extend an invitation from her uncle James to visit their ranch the next day. The next morning, Jeannie meets Adam on the trail to the ranch and questions him about his interest in their brand. When an unseen assailant fires at them, Adam accuses Jeannie of setting up an ambush for him. At the ranch, Adam meets Jeannie's wheelchair-bound uncle, who offers him a job keeping Jay out of trouble. Adam accepts on the condition that he hire Chito, too. After Adam departs, Collinshaw extracts a photograph from his desk drawer and lovingly gazes at it. On his way back to town, Adam, meanwhile, locates the spent gunshells fired by his assailant. In town, Adams visits the county clerk's office and asks to see the deed to the Collinshaw ranch. By examining the bill of sale, Adam ascertains that Collinshaw paid $10,000 for the property ten years earlier, the exact amount of money stolen from the Larey wagon. At a party held in honor of Jeannie's birthday that evening, Guerd Eliott, the ranch foreman, accuses Jeannie of being in love with Adam. As Jeannie and Eliott quarrel on the porch, Jay slips into his uncle's office, steals $1,000 from the strongbox and rides into town to gamble. Soon after, Adam and Chito arrive at the party. Confronting Collinshaw alone in his office, Adam accuses him of killing his father and produces the empty shell, which fits Collinshaw's rifle. After confessing to the crime, Collinshaw explains that he killed for revenge because Adam's father had stolen the only woman he had ever loved. Handing over the photograph of Adam's mother, Collinshaw admonishes Adam that he has learned the hard lesson that revenge resolves nothing. Adam's love for Jeannie renders him impotent to kill her uncle, and so he decides to foresake her and return to California. For Jeannie's sake, Collinshaw asks Adam to recover the money stolen by Jay, and he consents. After Adam leaves the room, Eliott enters and Collinshaw produces his confession to the murder of Adam's father. He also shows Eliott his new will leaving Adam his entire estate and asks him to sign as a witness. When Eliott protests and reminds Collinshaw that he had previously ordered Adam shot, Collinshaw fires Eliott and accuses him of contributing to Jay's death by fostering his gambling. Aware that Collinshaw's confession would implicate Adam if Collinshaw were murdered, Eliott pulls his gun, kills Collinshaw and then assembles a posse to apprehend Adam. At the saloon, meanwhile, Adam accuses the dealer of cheating with marked cards and demands he return the money that Jay lost. After the dealer complies, Adam rides out of town but is soon apprehended and jailed by the posse. While visiting Adam in jail, Jeannie reveals that Jay has admitted to stealing the money and then pleads with him to tell the truth and save himself. When she leaves, Chito appears and breaks Adam out of jail. After bidding his friend goodbye, Adam declares his intention to wander the wastelands once again. He then goes to Eliott's room, and at gunpoint, forces him to accompany him on foot. Defeated by thirst and exhaustion, Eliott confesses to Collinshaw's murder just as the posse, led by Jeannie and Chito, catch up to them. After producing the confession she found on her uncle's desk, Jeannie turns it over and reads a note on the back written by her uncle, attesting that Adam declined to kill him. Thus exonerated, Adam returns to the Rafferty ranch with Chito and his new wife Jeannie, and there announces that he is home to stay.