Dade Hunter and Jack Allen are two cowboys who got caught up in the 1849 California Gold Rush, and had a good fortune in the gold fields. They decide to spend a winter in San Francisco, where Jack gets hooked on gambling, while Dade quickly gets tired of it and moves on. Dade meets Andres, a Spanish Don who owns a large ranch, and tries to persuade Jack to move there with him, but Jack is involved way over his head.

Bertha Muzzy Bower (1871-1940) was an American author who wrote novels and short stories about the American Old West. She is best known for her first novel "Chip of the Flying U" about Flying U Ranch and the "Happy Family" of cowboys who lived there. The novel rocketed Bower to fame, and she wrote an entire series of novels set at the Flying U Ranch. Several of Bower's novels were turned into films.