Based upon "Lobo the King of Currumpaw" by Ernest Thompson Seton from the author's 1898 book titled Wild Animals I Have Known, neither the time period nor the precise location are specified in the film, in part because the story is told as much from a wolf's point of view as from a human's.

There is no dialogue in the film, with the only interpretation presented through the use of story-song composed and sung by the Sons of the Pioneers and the Sherman Brothers, and narration by Rex Allen.

At some point Lobo wanders off as his family moves on; he makes friends with a tortoise, chews an armadillo's ear, and is cornered by a rattlesnake when his parents finally arrive to rescue him.

He and his pack continue to prey on the cattle that have replaced the buffalo, but is wise enough to avoid all signs of the angry cattlemen who post rewards for his capture – or his death.

To catch the wolves, a professional hunter from Texas brings his pack of tracking hounds: a bloodhound and the coonhounds – Black and Tan, Bluetick, Redbone, and Treeing Walker), and his killer wolfhound.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that the narration "cheerily endows the wolf with a great deal more charm and character than is evidenced on the screen.