Middle-aged cattle baron, George Washington McLintock (John Wayne) has his hands full.

He's the most successful rancher in town but things on his homestead are far from rosy; he's got government officials underfoot, new farmers moving onto inadequate land and Native Americans who are being driven onto reservations.

Add to that his estranged wife Katherine (Maureen O' Hara). She walked out on him two years earlier without any explanation and has now returned with divorce papers in hand.

But McLintock is determined to rekindle her affections. Can an old cowboy change his ways and win her back?