Produced by Hunt Stromberg for Producers Distributing Corp., this silent Western melodrama starred the veteran Harry Carey as Patrick Angus O'Toole, a military officer assigned to investigate a gang of gunrunners operating near Fort Sumner in the Dakota Bad Lands. At the fort, O'Toole comes to the aid of Mary Owen (Trilby Clark), who is being harassed by Captain Blake (Lee Shumway). The irate Blake gives Mary's cowardly brother, Hal (Gaston Glass), 24 hours to pay his gambling debt. In desperation, Hal robs the Pony Express, a crime for which O'Toole is arrested. The Indians raid the fort, and O'Toole is freed by Freckles (Buck Black), the young survivor of a previous attack. During the battle, Hal proves his courage and is mortally wounded. On his deathbed, he confesses to the robbery, leaving Angus and Mary free to wed. The success of this film was due in no small measure to the fine rapport between Carey and seven-year-old Buck Black, a freckled, gap-toothed child actor whose appeal was much like the later Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. Black later played bits in Our Gang shorts and, as Brett Black, supporting roles in the '30s.
by Hans J. Wollstein
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