My Lady of the Cave is the first feature film by pioneer filmmaker Rudall Hayward.

Purity, a simple country girl, comes to the city and is hired as an artist's model. A young poet becomes obsessed with her, and is distraught when he learns she has been posing nude. But his distress is diminished when he finds that she intends to use her income from modelling to publish his poetry.

Lumber magnate Elihu Bennett seeks a monopoly in California's redwoods, clashing with mountain families like the Simpsons, who own valuable timber land. His daughter Ruth Bennett, educated and independent, disguises herself as a stenographer to spy on Stocker, her father's unscrupulous partner, and discovers his fraudulent schemes. She falls for Jerry Simpson, a lawyer and leader of the mountain folk, learning of Stocker's plot to steal their land and destroy ancient trees, including a beloved sequoia. After Stocker assaults Ruth, Jerry saves her, and Stocker dies in a reckless escape down a water flume. Elihu Bennett, realizing the truth, agrees to let the Simpsons keep their land, and Ruth and Jerry's love story culminates.