Commonly accepted as the first feature-length film to be made in Hollywood. Short films such as In Old California (1910) previously had been made in the neighborhood.
The first movie to be remade - in 1918 by the same director and with the same title.
The Motion Picture Patents Trust, headed by Thomas A. Edison, was, at that time, engaged in an attempt to control all motion picture production in the US and went to great lengths - often including the destruction of property and physical violence - to do so. The Trust was based on the East Coast, which is why many independent producers, such as Cecil B. DeMille, began shooting their films in California. The Trust's intimidation tactics probably explain why DeMille, who was one of their most vocal opponents, put no cast or crew credits on this film.
Cecil B. DeMille's ledger noted that he hired an extra named Hal Roach for $5 per day and rejected Jane Darwell, who already was commanding $60 per week.