Seattle, Washington, 1895. There are 10 men for every woman in the territory -- excellent odds for Shamus Donovan, an Irish fisherman with five daughters to marry off. Several town council members immediately fall for the younger daughters, but unfortunately, a family tradition says the oldest must marry first. But the oldest daughter is Katherine, a wild cat! In a woman-starved town like Seattle there has to be someone desperate enough to take on Katherine, they reason. Using William Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" as a guide, the men give Danny O'Brien, a federal marshal, advice on how to tame the wild Katherine. Add to the mix two feuding Indian tribes, three dim-witted lumberjacks, and a botched kidnap scheme and you have all the elements for one of the most energetic romances the West has ever seen.