The dawn of the twentieth century brings with it the prospect of great change. This exciting time was seen as a frightening infringement upon the range life of many cowboys. Monte Walsh (Tom Selleck) is one such ranch hand, a Wyoming rambler whose way of life is becoming obsolete. The industrialization and widening economic gap is leaving behind the likes of Monte and his companions, many of whom are "ridin' fence", erecting physical boundaries to separate land owned by the rich and thereby eliminating the freedom of the vast wilderness.