- When Wid Gardner, a friend of the "Sagebrusher" Sim Gage in Montana, advertises for a wife for Sim, he finds Mary Warren. Mary, who has recently lost her shop job in Cleveland, goes West under the impression that she is to be a housekeeper. By the time she arrives, she has become blind and cannot see the ugliness of the poor but honest Sim, who realizes that Mary is too refined for him. After some complications involving Frederick Waldhorn, who recognizes Mary as the girl whose legacy he has stolen, and Big Aleck, Mary and Sim are married. The young, handsome Dr. Barnes, who is working to restore Mary's sight, has also fallen in love with her. Eventually, Sim gives his life in rescuing Mary from a flood. Mary's sight then is restored and she confesses her love for Dr. Barnes. Finally, Mary's friend, Annie Squires, who accompanied her from Cleveland, becomes engaged to Wid.—AFI
- Sim Gage, aka "The Sagebrusher," is an unkempt individual who lives alone. His friend, Wid Gardner, decides that Sim needs a wife to care for him. When Gardner advertises for a wife, a city girl named Annie Squires answers. But out of pity for her friend, Mary Warren, who is losing her eyesight, Annie hands over the advertisement to her and sends her off to marry Gage in Montana. On the way to Gage's ranch, Mary goes blind. Unable to see Gage, she is impressed by his kindness and envisions him as looking entirely different than he is. Gage has enlisted a physician, Major Barnes, to help in supervising the building of a dam. Meanwhile, Frederick Waldhorn, who runs the Twin Forks Power Company, is involved in crooked deals. One day, while Mary is alone in the cabin, she is accosted by Big Aleck, who works for Waldhorn. Mary shoots him with Sim's gun. She rushes out of the cabin and into the forest, which has been set on fire by Waldhorn's men. There, she is discovered by Barnes. Believing he is Gage, she embraces him. Gage decides to let Mary continue with the illusion. On the day he and Mary are to be married, he asks Barnes to pretend he is Gage, and the ceremony takes place. Barnes performs an operation on Mary's eyes, in hopes of restoring her sight. Waldhorn, who wants to stop construction of the dam, blows it up. The valley is flooded and an entire settlement is swept away. Gage drowns while saving Mary's life. Eventually, Mary's sight is restored, and she marries Barnes.
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