Sugarfoot rides into Morgan's Ford, a seemingly quiet and friendly town, and takes a job as schoolteacher. He soon learns that the townspeople are fighting over water rights and living in fear of a gang of young toughs who are his pupils.

The same day citizens of a rough frontier town appoint Tom Brewster as sheriff, three of Tom's relatives arrive to heap another honor on the unsuspecting cowboy. Dougal, Angus and Wee Rabbie MacBrewster have traveled from Scotland to proclaim Tom chief of their clan. When Ben Cadigan and his gang attempt to hold up the bank, Sugarfoot's visiting relatives come to the aid of the chief.

Tom Brewster rescues a Gypsy girl and soon finds that the young lady has marriage on her mind. The Gypsy chief looks on Tom with disfavor and the cowboy must contend with a vengeful Gypsy rival.

Government agent Chris Colt suspects that recent prison breaks have been supervised by the Canary Kid, an imprisoned outlaw. Colt asks Sugarfoot to take the Kid's place in prison.

A pack of wolves kill three people, one of them a friend of Tom Brewster's. Perplexed by the incident, Tom moves in with his dead friend's family.

Tom Brewster tries to bring an estranged father and son together. His efforts, however, are undermined by the father's new wife, who is willing to commit murder to get control of her husband's property.

Jericho Dooley's town is plagued by drought. But he is determined to float off in his ark, taking Tom Brewster and Anne Carmody with him.

As the train pulls out, Tom Brewster notices that an infant is on board, but its mother is still in the station. He returns the child, unaware that he is bringing it closer to death.

After Tom Brewster arrives in town to help his cousin run for office, strange things start happening: the local hanging tree is struck by lightning, and an empty coffin is left in the middle of the street.

As Sugarfoot comes on the scene, a railroad is gobbling up land in a Western valley, forcing out the landowners.

Sugarfoot becomes involved with an army officer who is trying to provoke a war with the Indians to get land that is rich in gold.

When Jake Sloane can't take the measure of a dude named Theodore in a barbershop brawl, Sugarfoot decides to find out more about the dude. One thing he finds out is that his last name is Roosevelt.