A young woman, Minnie, has been running a saloon, the Polka, on her own since her father's death. While she is in some ways like a Daughter of the Regiment -- the miners have taught her how to use a pistol and play poker, both vital elements of the opera's plot -- she is a good girl. This is made clear in Act I when she undertakes to give the miners a Bible lesson right there in the saloon. The men, we are given to understand, are good guys: they take up a collection to send the homesick Jim Larkens back home to his native Cornwall, after he bursts into tears at a sentimental ballad ("La mia mamma" -- "My mother") sung by Jake Wallace; they present Minnie with flowers, a red ribbon, and a blue handkerchief...all very proper gifts for a Victorian lady. The men trust Minnie so much that they even leave their gold in her charge.
Alas, Cupid has shot an curved arrow into the camp: Minnie has fallen for a handsome stranger met on the road. Although he has told her his name is Dick Johnson, he is in actuality a "wanted" poster boy, Ramerrez, for whose apprehension Wells Fargo has promised $5000. (Here's an instance of artistic license: Ashby, the Wells Fargo agent who seeks him, says he believes Ramerrez is not actually of Spanish origin, which would have allayed Victorian Americans' attendees' fears that the heroine might fall for a genuine bandito.) Minnie spurns the attentions of Jack Rance, the sheriff (whom, interestingly, one tipsy miner, Sonora, insults by calling a Chinaman, then held in very low regard in California). He happens to be a married man, so this moral duplicity in of itself labels him a bad guy to opera listeners. Ramerrez, for his part, has fallen so in love with Minnie that he can't bring himself to rob her of the miners' gold, especially when she spunkily declares that whoever would try to take it would have to kill her first.
As Act II opens, Minnie tries to feminize herself a little in anticipation of a visit to her cabin by "Johnson." She hides him when Rance and the other miners call on her, anxious for her safety; when they show her a photo of Ramerrez, she finally learns he and Johnson are the same. As soon as the men leave, she angrily confronts Ramerrez, whom the men have also told her has another lover, Nina Micheltorena. He responds with a sob story that, having been reared on stolen goods, he must continue his heritage (another stretch of credibility that sounds awfully like something out of The Pirates of Penzance). She still turns him out the door, for having gained by deception the first kiss she has ever given a man. As soon as he steps out, he is shot, and she brings him inside to hide him again. Here follows the famous poker scene with Rance, where by cheating at cards she guarantees Ramerrez's safety.
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