A group of wagons leave a wagon train to head due west from Salt Lake City. Soon they find themselves trapped in a hot arid desert with their food and water diminishing rapidly.

The California desert is taking it's toll on Rosie and her husband Aaron after months of failure at mining. She is ready to return to her parents when they find an unexpected mineral on a dry lake bed that could make them wealthy.

A young, bold, bandit is robbing banks and businesses in a Sheriff's territory. Pressure mounts on the Sheriff to catch the bandit. The Sheriff plots to catch him but is always outsmarted. The Sheriff is determined to catch the bandit.

Jeanne De Courcey's family has been looking for the Lost Pegleg Mine for many years. Peter Trumble also wants to locate the mine. Peter uses Jeanne's little brother Robby to get every edge that he can to find the mine first.

Mamie Jaggers is one of the only single women in the mining town of Bullfrog, Nevada. All the men are vying for her attention and she can't decide which one she wants to marry.

Lew Barry is a rock drilling champion and has lots of plans for the future. He is shot and loses his arm. His dreams appear to be fading as his self pity is growing. Will Lew's dreams ever be realized?

Jay Keniston Phipps, Jr. has come west to hunt for moths. He finds his moths but he also finds a girl. After he is married he is determined not to succumb to the Chivaree that follows.

In the small High Sierras town of Bodie, a modest seamstress has settled down unnoticed. But what the townspeople do not know is that this woman used to be acclaimed as Tiger Lil, the star singer of Virginia City, during the gold rush days. Her life was turned upside down when her lover dumped her. Devastated, Tiger Lil gave up singing and after taking on a new name, took refuge among them...

Cynthy lives in the desert but wants to get out and experience the finer things in life especially a silk dress. She is in love with Zeb but he has no money. She takes a chance on love in hopes that the finer things will come.

Steve Bassett runs the only restaurant in a miner's camp, when he finds healthy competition after Melodie Marshall opens a rival eatery that quickly empties his tables. But Ms. Marshall must choose between success and romance when gold is discovered on a property she acquired from Bassett.

After the divisive issue of statehood for California is resolved, a woman and her daughter sail to the Sunshine state, hiding the official statehood documents from ruffians who seek to destroy them.

Sal and Laurie are in love, but Laurie believes that a marriage between an Indian and a white woman can't work. When Sal's mother dies, he receives information that he might be white. He sets out to prove he is white and win Laurie's hand.

When young Miguel saves the lives of a rich man and his daughter, he is given a bag of silver coins as a reward. When he donates the silver to the local bell foundry to sweeten the tone of a new church bell, his mother is mortified. But Miguel doesn't realize that the gift will return in full when, as a priest he is lost in the desert many years later.

Jennie has a bad reputation as a claim jumper, and trouble is brewing when she and another miner argue over the rights to a rich strike. But more trouble is in store for Jennie when her daughter arrives unexpectedly, with the idea that her mother is a wealthy mine owner.

While fleeing a posse in Death Valley, two outlaws discover a rich vein of silver. Since they're too well known to file a claim, one of the bandits convinces his girlfriend, Gwen, to file for them. Gwen goes a step farther and arranges for a U.S. Senator to arrange for immunity for the two bandits in exchange for the claim and cash. When Wells Fargo claims the money for past hold-ups, the crooks decide to go back into the robbery business, but the senator and their girlfriends have other ideas.

A young woman has trouble adjusting to the rough prairie after her Mormon husband is called to settle a new "Zion" away from Salt Lake City. The longer she stays there, the more she wants to leave until she finally has to take desperate measures to get what she thinks she truly wants.

Odd little man named Oscar Little wins big at a land auction in the new frontier town of Rawhide, Nevada. With the help of a kind stranger, he turns a ten-dollar investment into over $20,000. After a narrow escape from a thieving dance-hall girl, Oscar makes his way home to New York. Here, he rescues his grateful brother and family from financial ruin. Though the family believes Oscar is still rich, he takes his leave, penniless, and returns to the West.

Zack and Zeke are slaves from a plantation in Louisville when they overhear a guest talking about gold in California. They ask their master to allow them to buy their freedom by digging for gold.