The book begins with the introduction of your standard hero; Buck Mason, a straight talking straight shooting cowboy who has a problem with Ole Gunderstrom surrounding a land dispute that has been going on for 18 years. His visit is most likely not entirely about this dispute but more to garner information about Gunderstrom's daughter Olga who he sent out East for a proper education. Buck and Olga had been friends since childhood but Ole Gunderstrom has no intention of letting his daughter marry an ignorant cowpuncher. Despite all kinds of discouragement, Buck has been secretly reading up on society, perusing such magazines as Vogue to make himself more appealing to a returning and presumably more sophisticated Olga.