 Three orphaned siblings are forced upon confirmed bachelor Donovan (Bixby) in a 19th century boom town of Quake City, CA. After an earthquake shakes the area, the children find a large gold nugget worth tens of thousands of dollars. But their newfound wealth is causing more problems than it s solving, so they agree to "give" the gold to two bumbling outlaws (Knotts & Conway). But they only way they can get the gold is to steal it from the bank vault where it s being held for safe keeping.