One of the earliest western heroes in movies was 'Broncho' Billy Anderson and a few of his old movies still exist today. However, of all the Broncho films I have seen, this one is by far the most unusual--and Billy is not at all heroic at times.
The film begins with Billy learning that a company wants to buy his mining claim for $100,000. At the same time, an old man is trying his luck with a different nearby claim. Bill decides to play a nasty trick on the guy--and seeds the old man's claim with some gold. However, instead of everyone having a good laugh, the old guy is so overwhelmed with emotion that he has a heart attack and dies!! Just how Broncho Billy gets out of this one makes this an interesting film--as he does try to do right by the old man's daughter.
While the very beginning is a bit confusing, the story is a well done and compact tale. Worth seeing...but weird.