Fast talking Martinus Van der Brig persuades Holden and Bill Blake, the riverboat's new pilot, to transport a group of pioneers to some new territory, recently purchased from Mr. Van der Brig.

Milton Frome, Holden and Blake have an idea for making the Enterprise famous by shanghaiing President Zachary Taylor. They get some help from a girl named Lucy Belle.

Gentleman Dan Muldoon is backing Dublin Boy against Gunner Stagle for the bare-knuckle championship of the river. Before the fight, Dublin Boy proves to have a glass jaw, when flattened by Grey, thus forcing the captain to take his place in the ring. Grey triumphs and becomes ""river champion.""

There was no bridge on the river to Captain Holden's knowledge, but someone has constructed a railroad trestle over the water. When the Enterprise runs into its pilings, Holden sues for damages, finding himself in court against a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln.

Sir Oliver Garnett and Juliet, his young companion, are shipwrecked actors. Captain Holden fishes them out of the river and books them as entertainers aboard the Enterprise.

The feuding families of Jennings and Cox are going to a fair, and Holden unwittingly books both families on the Enterprise. Now Grey has to act as peacemaker or have the riverboat wrecked by gunfire.

If Grey will lure a belle named Lucinda away from Colonel Ashley's son Tony, the colonel will provide a profitable cotton cargo for the Enterprise. Unfortunately, Lucinda overhears the proposition.

Army Sgt. Dan Phillips is trying to recruit new members for his platoon. Using a convincing argument - a hit on the head - he has filled all but two spots in his quota. And he has eyes on Phelan, one of Grey's crewmen, for one of those spots.

The Enterprise arrives at Chicota Landing with a cargo of gunpowder for the Army. Before they can unload it, the boat is taken over by a gang of Mexican bandits led by Juan Cortilla.

Brian Cloud monopolizes all the cotton crop in the area, and Laurie Rawlings, the wife of a cotton planter, doesn't like being under Cloud's thumb.

In town to have an aching tooth removed, Carney stops at the saloon for a bolstering drink. This makes him late for the dentist, so Blake undertakes to separate Carney from his tooth.

Norwegian songbird Julie Lang wants to take her troupe to New Orleans for an engagement, but she has no money. Grey finally agrees to take the troupe aboard the Enterprise, for an IOU against their New Orleans receipts. Along the way, a future crewman of another famous ship called Enterprise, steals her jewelry.