A Romance of the Redwoods

A Romance of the Redwoods (1917) starring Mary Pickford, directed by Cecil B. DeMille
The death of her mother has left Jenny Lawrence an orphan. She joins a wagon train to California to go live with her only surviving relative, her uncle John. Her uncle has been murdered by Indians, and a notorious hunted outlaw, Black Brown, finds the arrow-riddled body. Stealing the dead man's wallet and assuming his identity, the outlaw rides off to California to live a new life as John Lawrence. Jenny arrives at John Lawrence's cabin at Strawberry Flats, and is immediately aware that the man who greets her is an imposter. However, she soon realizes that an attractive single woman would not survive long in the brutal backwoods town, and is forced to pretend that the outlaw is her uncle, because she needs his protection. The two cohabitate in an uneasy truce, but as the months pass, tolerance begins to turn to affection for the most unlikely couple.