Like many cartoons during its time, Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa dealt with a mutation of some kind. In this case, an irradiated comet struck the late 19th century Western plains creating a miles high mesa shrouded in clouds. Everything trapped on top of the mesa was "cow-metized" by the light from the "cow-met" and "evolved" into a "bovipomorphic" state. Inspired by old tales of the Wild West, this new bovine community developed to the point where they emulated that era's way of life, including the requisite ruffians and corrupt sheriffs. However, their knowledge of Wild West living was limited, and as such, many things about their culture had to be improvised to 'fill in the blanks'. The concepts of steampunk and Weird West were utilized throughout its run.
The series focuses on trying to keep justice in the frontier territory. The lawbreakers were too much for the corrupt regulators of Cowtown (namely Mayor Oscar Bulloney and Sheriff Terrorbull) to handle by themselves. Helping them out, whether they wanted it or not, were a group of peacekeepers known as C.O.W.-Boys (the C.O.W. part is short for "Code of the West"). Led by Marshal Moo Montana, the C.O.W.-Boys also included the Dakota Dude and the Cowlorado Kid. Marshal Moo Montana and his deputies had their hands full with various ruffians and outlaw gangs that plagued the otherwise peaceful town.
