Private Frank Austin, imprisoned for striking Colonel Kincaid, who was abusing a lame newsboy, escapes to Colorado. Meanwhile, Latin professor Thomas Doyle, his wife Mary and sister Kitty also move to Colorado because of Mrs. Doyle's health and are persuaded by Kincaid to buy a ranch that is worthless because it has no irrigation. While Mrs. Doyle gets well and Doyle's funds run out, Austin, on land bordering Doyle's, strikes gold and is blackmailed by Kincaid to let him have a controlling interest.
A sheriff and his posse shoot it out with a gang of robbers headed by Bad Jake Kennedy. The surviving robber, Buckshot John, won't tell where the gang's loot is hidden and gets 30 years in prison. Halfway through his sentence he "gets religion" and in order to save his soul, decides to tell where the gang has hidden its stash of gold. However, a phony clairvoyant, The Great Gilmore, finds out about John's intentions and tricks him into revealing where the gold is. When John finds out what happened, he decides to break out of prison and take care of matters himself.