In 1889, Hewey Calloway and his beloved brother, Walter, leave the family farm to find work in the West Texas cow country. When Walter falls in love and begins dreaming of a farmer's life, the fiddle-footed Hewey, content to work for six bits a day, jumps at the chance to rescue him from this fate worse than death.

He takes his brother on a mission for boss C C Tarpley, driving six hundred head of cattle from beyond San Antonio to the Double-C Ranch. Hewey's natural propensity for getting into jams makes the journey memorable and dangerous - and when the drovers return, they find Boss Tarpley in the midst of a range feud with a neighbouring cowman...