One of the few extant westerns from Tom Mix's days with the Selig Polyscope Company, The Heart of Texas Ryan features a rather drab Mix far removed from the flamboyant Hollywood cowboy of the later Fox years. Mix is a cowpuncher on the Ryan ranch who falls for old man Ryan's pretty daughter (Bessie Eyton), recently returned from the East. At first thought of as something of a fool, Mix proves his worth by capturing a member of a notorious gang of rustlers.