Easterner Edward Turrentine Bayard III deserts his wealthy family and travels to Nebraska. After all, it will be good for his health. Once he's mastered skinning buffalo, perfected his shot, and fallen in love, he returns back East and ends up in the company of a dance hall girl and a 14-year-old coal miner. Soon a mix-up puts a Pinkerton detective on their trail, and the trio begins a circuitous escape through Indian territory, city slums, and the vast Great Plains.