The Stampede

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John Morton, prospector, weds Panca, daughter of an Indian chief, in order to get the secret of a mine whence came great nuggets of gold. On learning the secret he deserts her. She dies after giving birth to a child, who at her request, is educated "white man fashion." The girl Wanga at school becomes the bosom friend of Morton's daughter by the woman he has married after returning to civilization. Thus she meets Dick Travers, a young engineer, whom Morton has sent to lay out a railroad across the Indians' land, with the ulterior motive of getting possession of the mine. Morton plays upon Senator Bobbs' love for his daughter, Jessica, to push the nefarious scheme through Congress. Joe Iron Horn, an Indian who loves Wanga, calls at Morton's residence while a ball is in progress and orders the girl to come with him. The secret of her Indian blood being revealed, Dick, who has just declared his love for her, now turns upon her. She goes back to her people. At her instance the president appoints a commission to protect the rights of the Indians and Wanga forces Morton to acknowledge defeat by threatening to claim him as her father. Having saved her people, she flouts the penitent Dick, but repents and saves his life when Joe Iron Horn, in jealous rage, causes a stampede of wild cattle, from the midst of which Dick is rescued by means of an Indian trick. Iron Horn is killed by her grandfather when he attempts to shoot Dick, and Wanga marries her lover, who now is proud of her inheritance from the noble red man.