Rowdy Vaughn is a goodhearted but somewhat uncouth range rider whose attempts at wooing the local schoolteacher are hampered by a longstanding blood feud. The problems start when Jessies brother turns out to be a good-for-nothing kind of guy who had done some nasty things to Rowdy in the past.
The subplot, concerning Rowdys employers attempts to find pasture for his cattle during a drought, provides one of the highlights of the book: several interesting chapters describing a tedious cattle drive with a lack of water.
