The Bolt brothers (Jason, Joshua and Jeremy) bet their mountain that they can bring one hundred marriageable women back to Seattle and that those women will remain in Seattle for a year. In exchange, Aaron Stempel funds their expenses. The Bolt brothers arrive in New Bedford, Massachusetts--a town that has a shortage of men thanks to the Civil War (and probably the whaling industry). After a persuasive speech by Jason, the women enlist for the trip. Jason Bolt finds an old mule boat —er, ship— and arranges passage on it for the women, his brothers and himself with Captain Roland Francis Clancey. They arrive back in Seattle and have a roaring celebration.
With the pressure of a large logging contract with a late penalty, the Bolt brothers would be busy enough, but the brides, led by Candy Pruitt, have put together a petition. The town must get a doctor or they will leave. Jason heads to San Francisco in search of a doctor. The only one he can find has excellent credentials, but is a woman, which in the mid-1800s was very rare. He extends her the offer out of desperation and they sail back to Seattle. In the meantime, Joshua and Jeremy have been running the logging camp. Jeremy dynamites a log jam and is severely injured. Dr. Wright returns in time to save his life. To thank her, Jason throws her a welcome party, but attendance is mixed: the loggers go only because Jason insisted that they go, but only two of the brides show up. Jason delivers an impassioned speech to the brides about their prejudice. Dr. Wright realizes that even in unconventional Seattle, there is still a lot of uneasiness about a woman doctor and decides to leav
Holly Houston rides into town with three small children and a plan to find herself a husband, so the judge won't take the kids from her. Her target? Jason Bolt. She manages to convince most of the town that Jason IS the father of the three children and that he'd promised to marry her. She then leaves the children with the brides and disappears from town. With the town mostly taking Holly's side, Jason tracks her down and tells her that he will teach her how to be a lady so that the judge will not take the children from her. She accepts his offer, hoping that he will marry her once she's more ladylike. At the custody hearing, everyone finds out that Jason is not the father and that Holly is not the mother. (She's the aunt.) The children will be sent to Ohio to live with their grandparents and Holly decides to accompany them there. In the final scene, Jason receives a note from Holly telling him how things went and asking him to introduce her to the eligible Mr. Aaron Stempel when
A boy's resistance to his mother, one of the imported Brides, marrying the local minister threatens the Bolts' wager with Stempel.
Professional gamblers come to Seattle, but the Bolts are unaware that they were brought by Aaron Stemple to get them and their fellows into gambling debt trouble.
Claude Dupre and his trappers are down from the mountains and desperate for some female companionship. They are attempting to break into the brides' dorm when they are met by the Bolt brothers and Aaron Stempel. Soon a huge brawl erupts between the two factions only to be stopped by the appearance of Sheriff Emmett Wade. He is a no nonsense law officer hired by Seattle to restore law and order. He assumes the job and his iron hand of justice comes down so hard that it's not order he's brought to Seattle but oppression. Jason and Aaron will have to work together to keep their friends out of jail and get rid of Sheriff Wade while staying within the letter of the law.
Swede and Miss Essie have an argument and decide to stop seeing each other. She then thinks Jason is in love with her after he pays her extra attention.
The Bolt brothers' experiment is threatened when one of the brides declares she'll leave because there are no Jewish men in Seattle for her to marry.
Taking a page from "Lysistrata," the brides declare they'll withhold "affection" from their beaus until they promise to stop fighting a landowners' hired men.
A huckster comes to town with promises of controlling the rain and curing problems. The rain stops coincidentally, but the town starts to believe. Jeremy asks him to cure his stutter. His stutter is cured but not without disbelief.
Ben & Emily are expecting their baby to be born any day. When two little girls learn it is a Christmas baby, they fear the baby will have the same fate as Jesus who died at Easter. They steal the baby. The brides are homesick for family.
Biddy and Clancy talk about the first days of the brides arriving in Seattle. When the brides arrived, there was no housing for them, and the men had to build it overnight.
Jeremy proposes to Candy and Candy accepts. Everyone is thrilled for them except another logger named Lew. Lew thinks all the girls will want to get married now that Candy and Jeremy have gotten engaged. He raises doubts in Jeremy's mind and Jeremy and Candy call off their engagement. Candy and the other brides tell Jason somebody has to get married to break the log jam they've been experiencing. Jason decides that Lew is going to break the log jam. He pretends to be in love with Lew's girl Abigail and makes Lew jealous enough to marry her. Everything ends well with Candy and Jeremy deciding that they need to get to know each other better.
The Bolts and Stemple want a log flue built in a location that would help their own interests. They decide the way to settle it is to see who wins the hand of a bride. Lulu has kept one of Stemple's men and one of Jason's men dangling.
Local friendly Indians want brides of their own. Since the town wont sell women, the Indians take them.
Jason falls for an Amish girl in a wagon train party that has stopped over in Seattle. He must commit to the peaceful, non-violent Amish way of life if he is to pursue her, but finds it difficult when an extortionist threatens to provoke a union strike and attacks him outright.
The government wants to build a road through Seattle to connect towns. Aaron complicates the issue by buying land that crosses the road and dormitory. The government agent says they need a mayor to settle the issue. An election ensues.
A former boyfriend of Lottie's comes to town and manages to sweet-talk everyone into selling him share of their business. The people realize he swindled them, and find a way to get their property back by out-conning him.
Adam Wilson, a Mormon, arrives in Seattle hoping to find several women to make his brides. He informs Jason of his plan and Jason says to go ahead but that none of the brides are Mormons and he doubts that any of them would want to share a husband. He introduces himself to Candy, Biddie, Anne, and Amanda and asks them to help him get settled by cooking and cleaning for him. They agree not knowing that his ulterior motive is to woo them. They go out walking with him and one of the lumber jacks goes running back to the camp to let their boyfriends know. Jeremy is out of town and Josh can't believe Candy would cheat on him. The loggers confront their women about being squired around town by a Mormon and they tell them they didn't know that he was one. The loggers have a good laugh about the women being taken in by Adam Wilson and the women get angry at being made fun of. They decide to pretend that they are interested in Adam and actually go so far as to go to him farmhouse to help him fi
Candy Pruitt's grandfather Benjamin Pruitt arrives in Seattle to visit Candy but also to prospect for gold. Jeremy is very anxious about meeting her grandfather as he has never met any of Candy's relatives. He and Jeremy get along fine but he confides to him and Candy that he has always dreamed of striking it big prospecting for gold and he feels Seattle may be the place. Jeremy tells him that others have searched for gold unsuccessfully but this doesn't sway Benjamin in the least. He proceeds to try his luck and in the process the mine shaft caves in on him. The Bolt brothers rescue him but he no longer feels like living as his dream of finding gold hasn't been fulfilled. Candy believes that if her grandfather finds even a small nugget of gold this will give him the will to live again. She convinces Jeremy to salt the mine with gold from her grandmother's locket. Once the town finds out gold has been discovered they all buy mining equipment and fights break out over different claims.
Jeremy and Joshua visit a nearby town with another logger. When Jeremy and Joshua are kidnapped, Corkie returns to camp to tell Jason. Jason, Stemple, and Clancey make plans to rescue the men. Candy and Biddie stow away on the ship to help.
One of the brides, Peggy, ran away from New Bedford after forging the papers. Her guardian, Uncle Jebediah, is on his way to Seattle. The only problem is, he won't let her stay there unless she is married, which is why she wrote home to him to tell him that she had married Joshua Bolt. The uncle sees this as an opportunity, and outsmarts Jason to lose the mountain!
The Bolt brothers have a chance to bid on a job in San Francisco. An inexperienced Jeremy goes to place the bid. He & Candy part on angry words. A new man in town tries to help Candy over her sadness, and the town wonders what will happen.
Two lawyers visit Seattle with plans to stir up legal issues, assessing fees to help the residents. This happens as Joshua has an idea for changing the family operations. The lawyers pit brother against brother, with Stemple on the side.
When Jeremy is in Tacoma picking up supplies, he saves a Chinese woman who is in town to meet her arranged spouse. Since Jeremy saves her, she says she now belongs to Jeremy instead of the intended husband.
A logger is accidentally killed by a log when the team is joking around. His father comes to Seattle to avenge his death.
Clancey returns to Seattle with Candy's brother & sister, as well as an engagement ring Jeremy requested for Candy. When Candy learns her mother died and her siblings need to stay in Seattle, she tells Jeremy she cannot accept his proposal.
Clancey receives a visit from his brother Ned, a priest whom he has convinced that he owns most of the businesses in Seattle. More chaos follows when a band of thieves hear of Clancey's supposed wealth.
When the town folk hunt for an aggressive bear, Jeremy sees a bear and kills it. However, it was a trained, gentle bear, and the soldier that trained the bear wants revenge against Jeremy. Jeremy tries to find a way to repay the man.
After the departure of a visiting Shakespearean troupe, town residents discover they've been robbed.
Irish visitors to Seattle are interested in the town and surrounding mountains. They plan to fight the British fleet nearby. Joshua escorts the daughter of the leader around Seattle.
An Indian family is murdered by trappers, leaving only a young son alive. The Bolt brothers befriend him, teaching him to speak English, learn how to fit into society, and then find him a home to live with his own tribe.
Lottie & Jeremy travel over rough roads to an Indian territory to help a woman ready to give birth. A desperate man trying to escape to Canada joins their wagon.
Is Big Foot roaming around the mountains of Seattle? A townsman claims to have seen him, and the town is caught up in fear. Everyone starts to see and hear Big Foot whenever there is a noise.
The Bolt brothers find some Greek immigrants living on their property. The Greeks show they have a deed to own the land, and nothing the Bolts can do will convince them to leave.
While checking a remote area of the Bolt property, Jason runs into an escaped convict. The convict holds Jason captive to help him further his escape since he has limited vision.
The town wants a railroad built through Seattle and plans to invite the governor into town to see the need for the railroad. To entice the governor, the town wants Jenny Lind to perform at a celebration, knowing the governor will attend.
Aaron's sister Julie is determined to romance with Jason knowing that will upset him. Julie cannot get her inheritance unless Aaron approves of her selection for a husband.
An unseen person starts shooting at the men working on cutting trees. He claims that he owns the land and the forest. The Bolt brothers must fight to keep their rights.
Obie, a well-respected worker, tells Joshua he is quitting because there is no Africa-American woman in town for him. Joshua comes up with a plan. He hires an entertainer to visit Seattle for a performance and hopes the two fall in love.
Jeremy and Joshua go to Tacoma. They go to a saloon and play roulette and win the saloon. But what they don't know is that the owner let them.
Holly had visited Seattle before, trying to get Jason to marry her. She says she wants to live in Seattle. Her mission is to find the gambler who paid his debt to her with counterfeit money.
Lottie's ex-husband comes to Seattle and demands that she pays him $5,000 to keep a secret about her past. When he is found dead Lottie becomes the prime suspect.
A group of dancing performers stop in Seattle to book passage on Clancy's boat. Since Clancy's boat is currently out of commission, the dancers are stranded in town until it is repaired. The dancers provide entertainment and competition.
Jeremy (Bobby Sherman) is rescued from a cliff side accident by drifter Richard "Kid" Holiday (James Davidson), who is slightly injured in the incident.
A regular visitor to town brings his daughter for an annual event. Joshua has feelings for Callie who is blind. There is an opportunity for her to have an operation to regain her sight, but her father is resistant.
Joshua and a farmer like the same woman and they want her to pick the man she wants. When she cannot decide, the farmer says he and Joshua have to fight over her. Jason says they need to negotiate, not fight.
Lottie's bar is running out of whiskey, and Yancy is overdue with a delivery. When he returns empty due to a distiller's strike, Jason goes to Canada in search of whiskey. While Jason is gone, Yancy & Biddy build a still.
The Bolt brother's uncle arrives in town, dressed in full Scottish costume and with bagpipes. The Bolt land in Scotland has been sold, so Uncle Duncan hopes to lay stake in the land in Seattle.
A man comes to Seattle with a young boy who chose not to speak. He treats the boy as a circus act in a cage. Jeremy comes to the boy's defense. When the boy is left in Jason's care, Jeremy decides to help the boy learn to speak.
The Bolt brothers have a run in with some trappers. They think Jeremy is out to cause them problems. When Jeremy finds a dead trapper, the others think Jeremy killed him. Jeremy's only witness to the truth is an old Indian.
A woman with a beautiful daughter comes to town. She says she wants the Bolt's to build her an expensive home. However, she has an alternative plan which includes the brothers fighting over her daughter's love and destroying their business.