In 1930, in the heart of East Texas oil country, unemployed wildcat oil well drillers Delbert Lane, Tex Warren and Duke Massey roam the state looking for work. Soon after arriving in Kilmer County, Duke meets newspaper editor Matt Brady and Matt's attractive daughter Julie. Julie tells Duke that there is plenty of oil under Kilmer County but that no one has dug deep enough to find it. Though Julie is Tex's old sweetheart, Duke pursues a romance with her. Julie later rejects Tex's marriage proposal, telling him that she does not want to marry an oil man or a newspaperman like her father because they live unsettled, transient lives. Always searching for a way to make an easy profit, Duke devises a plan to fleece the people of Kilmer by having them invest in oil drilling that is unlikely to yield oil. After drilling for several days without striking oil, Duke declares the well dry and makes preparations to leave town with the remainder of the investors' money.
