After a gang of outlaws tortures a man named Taggart in order to force him to reveal the site of a legendary, hidden mine, known as the "Lost Dutchman," Taggart dies, and the gang soon realizes that they have confused him with Pop Wiley, a local rancher said to know the secret of the mine's location. When the gang notices a famous cowboy, dubbed the "Irish Gringo," ride by, they alert the sheriff and tell him that the Gringo is responsible for Taggart's death. In the meantime, Pop Wiley, realizing that the outlaws are aware of his knowledge of the mine, writes its location on his little granddaughter Sally's blouse and sends her into town to stay with a young woman named Anita. One of the outlaws overhears Wiley's instructions to Sally, however, and Sally witnesses him murder her grandfather. The Gringo and his cohorts, Pancho and Buffalo, manage to elude the sheriff's posse, and when they see a suspicious looking group of men ride away from the Wiley ranch, they go to investigate. At the ranch, they discover Sally sobbing and take the orphaned child into town for some milk. Ace Lewis, owner of the town saloon, crudely proposes marriage to Anita, but she is in love with a local boy named Jimmy Melton. When Jimmy tells her that he doesn't have enough money to marry her in the church, she replies that she would be willing to wed him under the trees and adds that "it's better to make a life than a living." The Gringo overhears her and becomes fond of both Anita and the saying, and he tells her that his real name is Don O'Brien and that he is half Mexican and half Irish. In addition to being a saloon owner, Ace, a murderer on the lam, is part of the gang searching for the Lost Dutchman. While a local woman named Carlotta, who is in love with the Gringo, knits a dress for Sally, she overhears the gang boasting that they framed the Gringo for Taggart's murder, and when he enters the saloon, the outlaws attempt to make a citizen's arrest. After a fight, the Gringo escapes with Carlotta, but when he stops to visit the minister to make arrangements for Anita's wedding, Carlotta misunderstands and becomes enraged with jealousy. After telling Ace all she knows, Carlotta goes to kill Anita, but finds her in Jimmy's arms and realizes her mistake. Carlotta warns the Gringo that the gang is after him, and he is ready to fight when they show up at Anita's wedding. Pancho shoots Ace, and the Gringo gives the blouse with the map, along with Sally, to the newlyweds, who already consider Sally as part of their family. As the Gringo rides away with Buffalo and Pancho, he believes that he has left the love-sick Carlotta behind, however she follows him.