Bison Motion Pictures

American silent short movie.

The Princely Bandit

As the freight train on which are riding Mike and Leary, two knights of the road, passes the station at Hynes, the tramps steal the mail bag which had been placed on the crane by the postmaster of that place. They jump from the train in a secluded spot and start to rifle the bag.

His Majesty Dick Turpin

Hell's Crown, a town where law and order are as scarce as preachers, is ruled by "Chuck" Wells, a former gun man. He has a dupe in Blaze, the terror of the town, and holds him by keeping him well supplied with money. A sheriff is appointed at Carson City on account of the horse rustlers.

Jeanne La Roche lives alone with her brother in the great northwestern country. Jacques is a ne'er-do-well and has fallen under the suspicion of the mounted police, two of whom are dispatched to arrest him for robbery. The stolen goods are found in his home. Jeanne is too young to be left in their lonely cabin, so she is taken to the post, where the wife of the proprietor welcomes her and gives her a home. Several years later, Donald McLean wins her for his wife. Meantime Jacques escapes from prison, eludes his pursuers and takes refuge in McLean's home.

The Better Man

In the hills of Dixie live Jed and Sue, a country lad and lass, who are very much in love with each other. The keeper of the wayside tavern is an unscrupulous fellow who has coveted Sue for some time. He makes advances to Sue, but Jed, who suspects the man, warns him to keep away and not molest her.

General Gordon, of the Federal army, receives a message from General Grant, telling him to intercept important dispatches "from Lee to Webber, carried over wires" in Gordon's vicinity. Lieutenant Barrett assumes the task, takes his instruments and sets out. Colonel Webber, of the Confederate army, has a daughter Edith. Lieutenant Fairfax aspires to her hand, but his attentions only annoy her.

Despite being disqualified for war service, a young man volunteers as a war correspondent and ends up performing heroically at the front anyway.

Fulfilling a promise made to his mother on her deathbed, Dr. James Gibson finds his sister Pauline who has run away after giving birth to an illegitimate child. His sister's mind has snapped and Gibson takes his sister and his baby niece home with him. The years pass and the niece has grown into a beautiful woman, while her mother is kept locked in a room that the young woman is forbidden to enter. Gibson and his wealthy neighbor, John Morris, are both interested in hypnotism, and one night the two men conduct an experiment by hypnotizing Gibson's niece. This film is presumed lost.

Black Wolf, a brave, wants Whispering Water to be his squaw. Whispering Water is afraid of this taciturn Indian and refuses. He tries to carry her off but is stopped by another Indian, Brave Heart, and there is a savage light in which Black Wolf is worsted. He appeals to the chief to banish Brave Heart.

Bob Evans, a telegraph operator, together with a group of soldiers gets ambushed by Sioux Indians. Wounded, he climbs into a telegraph pole and asks through the telegraph wires for help from the fort. Bob's fiancée Edith comes along with the soldiers. The soldiers find only dead bodies and decide to chase the Indians. Edith stays behind to search for Bob. She finds him and together they return to the fort. The Sioux then attack the fort, but when the situation seems hopeless, the army returns and the Indians are expelled.

The sheriff of the county is elected by men who call him the "squarest sheriff alive." Panchita Garcia, the flower of the town, loved by all, leaves home for a walk, passing through the town, where all the cowboys come out to meet her. "Bad" Pedro, a native, sees her and follows. He overtakes her and tries to kiss her. The sheriff, who has been passing by and has given Pedro's wife money to buy food for the starving children, hears her and runs to her assistance.

The Tornado mostly followed pulp Western formula -- bad guys hold up a town, take a girl hostage, and the hero rides to the rescue. But there were a couple of twists that made it seem more personal than the usual cowboy fare. Ford's Jack Dayton ... is known as "the No-Gun Man" because he faces the villains unarmed, anticipating the character played by James Stewart in George Marshall's 1939 Western comedy classic Destry Rides Again. Dayton is an immigrant who uses the reward money to bring over his mother (Jean Hathaway) from Ireland, a prototypically Fordian situation if there ever was one.

Holmes, the president of the S.L. Railway, has been trying very hard to secure a new franchise for his company. Frank Hynes, an acquaintance of Helen, the daughter of Holmes, has been a friendly visitor at the house, but, unknown to Helen and her father, is trying in every way possible to prevent Holmes from obtaining the franchise.

An indian girl brings military relief to the besieged cabin because of her gratitude to the white man who befriended her.

Having struck it rich, two prospectors return to town, where one of them is to be married while the other will serve as best man. But on the eve of the wedding, the best man turns out to be the worst of the two, and elopes with the bride-to-be. Though heartbroken, the jilted bridegroom shrugs philosophically and returns to gold-mining. Several years later, the wife dies, and her husband becomes a high-rolling gambler.

A white woodsman rescues Little Dove from danger on two occasions and she crushes out on him... but wiser heads prevail.

An old Indian legend tells of the supposed ability of persons who have been turned into wolves through magic power to assume human form at will for purposes of vengeance. This film is presumed lost.