[Note 1] The Old West town of Calendar in the Colorado Territory springs up almost overnight when clumsy, hotheaded Prudy Perkins notices gold in a freshly dug grave during a funeral.

Her father, bumbling farmer Olly, becomes the first mayor of the new settlement, but soon he and the other elected councilmen find themselves and the townspeople at the mercy of the corrupt Danby family, who force the prospectors to pay them a toll for using the only road in or out of Calendar.

Jason McCullough, a confident and exceptionally skilled gunfighter planning to emigrate to Australia, sees Joe Danby kill a man over a card game in the town's saloon.

Needing money after Calendar's high prices leave him broke, McCullough takes the job of sheriff, impressing the mayor and council with his uncanny marksmanship.

When the news reaches McCullough, he initially tells Prudy he intends to leave, but when she expresses her sincere approval of this sensible idea, he declares it to be cowardly and announces he is staying instead.

[3] Early in pre-production, Paramount Pictures threatened a lawsuit because the studio contended that the first scene was "lifted" from their musical Paint Your Wagon (1969) where a similar gold mine discovery is featured.

[6] In 1971, director Burt Kennedy reteamed with James Garner, Harry Morgan, and Jack Elam to make another Western comedy, Support Your Local Gunfighter, with different characters but a similar comedic tone.