Joy and the Dragon is a surviving 1916 silent film directed by Henry King and starring himself and 'Baby' Marie Osborne.
From the Descriptive Catalogue of Pathéscope Films: On the blue waves floats the remainder of a wrecked ship.
She finds herself in a Western small town grocery store, at the time a man draws a revolver to shoot another; she disarms the assailant.
The attacked man happens to be James Lewis, the son of a rich Easterner; he came West after reverses and gambling adventures, to reform.
James is so affected by this that he sells the claim and returns to his former life with the idea of making little Mary happy forever.