Wilhemina Jackson, widowed mother of two, answers an advertisement in the newspaper for a sheriff in Wild Horse Pass, Montana. She uses the name Willie Jack in order to disguise her identity as a woman and soon receives a telegram saying she's hired for the job. Along with her children, mother, and a giant of a dog, she loads up the wagon and makes the long ride from Kansas.

Wild Horse Pass is a picturesque town in the mountains with high standards and no law. The people are surprised to see a woman arrive as their sheriff, but are so desperate for someone to enforce the law, they decide to let her stay after she proves to them what a good shot she is with a rifle. All the former male sheriffs have always moved on to bigger and better pastures: especially since the town's people consider the sheriff's business their own and have no qualms about saying so.

Thomas Miller, livery owner and blacksmith, is ready for a sheriff to step in and take over law enforcement for the vigilantes, but he's not excited about the arrival of a leather-wearing, split-skirt, woman sheriff. Especially one pretty enough to grace a tea room back east.

No matter how quaint the town looks, Wild Horse Pass is a wild and dangerous place with many secrets. The folks may seem quirky, eccentric, and God-fearing, but their nosiness causes plenty of problems and feuds, despite the local pastor's and Tom's attempts to lead them down the right path.

Can Willie and Tom lay aside their differences to find out what really matters?