In the cold winter of 1886, a Montana cowboy frivolously buys a nice pair of homemade boots instead of warm winter clothing. Even though he travels down south to Wyoming for a hopefully warmer climate, he freezes to death. The next day, three cowboys dressed warmly pass his frozen corpse. One of them, Dirty Sheets, eyes the man’s nice boots as replacements for his own, but the only way he can get them off the body is by sawing off the dead man’s feet too. That night, the three cowboys bunk with an old man named Grice, who keeps his horses inside for warmth. After a night of games and fun, Sheets sets the boots by the stove to thaw. The next morning he realizes he has to rush out if he wants to telegram his mother for her birthday, so he tosses the feet by the stove and clears out. When old man Grice finds the feet later on, he thinks his blood bay devoured Sheets in the night and bribes the other two cowboys to keep quiet about the incident. They agree and ride off to meet Sheets at their bunkhouse, where they congratulate him on his mother’s birthday and keep quiet about the money.