From an original story by Paul Sloane, suggested by a story by Will James (the writing credits on the film) and a tagline line that reads...."HE'S MY PAL!" "Except readin' and writin' there ain't nothing he cant do. He can ride faster, shoot straighter and fight better 'n any guy in the world. Him and me's pardners"...the 1933 audience was probably expecting Wallace Beery as He. No such luck. Jackie Cooper starts out with John Wray as his father and then gets Addison Richards as a father-figure guardian.
Anyway, Scooter O'Neal (Jackie Cooper) is a young Chicago boy brought up in the slums by his idolized father (John Wray), who dreams of being a cowboy out in the Wild West, where his father was once a rancher. He is overjoyed when he learns that he is being sent to Nevada to visit his dad's old friend, "Dobe" Jones (Addison Richards.) What he doesn't know is that his out-of-work father is about to be arrested for theft and is sending him away so he won't be there for the upcoming disgrace.
Scooter expects to be greeted by "Dobe" and his wife, Eleanor (Lila Lee), but is met only by "Dobe" and isn't responsive to Scooter's questions about his missing wife. "Dobe" has problems of his own and is about to send Scooter back to Chicago, when he gets a telegram informing him that Bill O'Neal has committed suicide. Knowing that Scooter will be put in an orphanage, he decides to keep the kid with him.
After several nights of camping out, Scooter can't understand why they never reach "Dobe's" ranch, until two cowhands tell him that "Dobe" is a restless and relentless man always on the search for his wife and the man, Jim Weston (Gavin Gordon), with whom she ran away.
"Dobe" learns where the pair are hiding but Scooter gets to town first and warns them. "Dobe", robbed of his chance for vengeance, takes it out on Scooter and blurts out the truth about his father's death. Then, touched by pity and Scooter's grief---Jackie Cooper was a master of grief expression---decides to enter a rodeo to earn enough money to buy Scooter a silver-mounted saddle. But, in the bull-dogging event, "Dobe" spots Eleanor and Jim in the grandstand, and this diverts his attention-to-business-at-hand enough that he ends up getting gored by the steer he was trying to dog.
While recovering, he learns the whereabouts of his cheating wife and her new best-friend, but also realizes that the future of Scooter means more to him than his quest for vengeance. He rides forth to tell them all-is-forgiven but Scooter thinks he has other intentions and follows him.
"Dobe" confronts Eleanor and Jim but, Jim, fearing it is a ruse, pulls a gun. Shots ring out, "Dobe" kills Jim but a stray bullet hits Scooter. Eleanor goes for the Marshal (Charles Middleton), while "Dobe", carrying Scooter, races furiously to the doctor's office.
The Marshal arrives at the doctor's office and asks Eleanor to swear out an arrest warrant for"Dobe." Eleanor realizes that "Dobe" was sincere in his story. She refuses to press charges and says the killing of Jim was in self-defense.
Scooter recovers and he and "Dobe" ride off together.
