In 1890, former lawman Will Lane arrives in Montana to keep a promise made to a friend who died. His promise is to take care of his dead friend's son, Lee Carey. Will Lane has the title to the partially built Carey ranch and its livestock. He is to hand over this inheritance to young and immature Lee but only when the lad becomes a responsible and mature man. According to Lee's father's wishes, Will Lane should also see to it that Lee gets married to a responsible woman having her head on her shoulders. This could help keep Lee out of trouble and prevent him from gallivanting around with his no-good, care-free, prankster friends. As Will Lane arrives in the outskirts of Congress, Montana, he unexpectedly runs into young Lee Carey at a rough river crossing. The first encounter with Lee isn't too promising. Later, when Will Lane reveals to Lee Carey his identity and his mission, Lee adopts a rebellious attitude and does everything possible to aggravate the old ex-lawman and sabotage the plan to get Lee married and on the straight-responsible track in life. Eventually, Will Lane will discover that it's hard to get Lee to obey his father's last wishes and even harder to force Lee to marry. Of course, Lee's irresponsible bachelor friends also do the utmost to sabotage old man Lane's plans regarding Lee. They aim to keep Lee irresponsible and single for as long as possible. But old man Lane has a little trick up his sleeve. He places wife-wanted ads in the newspapers and he even travels to Kansas City to interview a few prospective candidates willing to marry Lee, a man they've never met before. It turns out that it's easier to find a wife for Lee than it is to persuade Lee to stay married to her.