On his way to Australia, frontier opportunist Jason McCullough (James Garner) stumbles into a gold-rush town and decides to earn a little extra pocket money by accepting a temporary assignment as their sheriff. Happily applying himself, McCullough manages to turn the town derelict (Jack Elam) into his deputy, outsmart the dreaded Danby clan (led by Walter Brennan), and fend off the advances of the mayor's daughter (Joan Hackett)...all without breaking...