In Texas Grit, Wilder spends a week in West Texas at his grandfather's ranch, while his mother and father travel to Denver to see her doctors. Wilder finds it hard to leave his parents. Papa Milam is a cowboy, gruff and sometimes a bit intimidating, yet grandfather and grandson care for each other very much—and find they actually have lots to learn from each other, too. Wilder works cattle on horseback and explores the rough ranch country with Papa. One night they start out to hunt for whitetail deer in the cottonwood bottoms but end up encountering a rattlesnake instead. A few days later, four cowboys arrive at the ranch to help with the branding of Papa's new calves. Wilder gets the opportunity to join the crew and takes his place alongside the grown men in the strenuous and sometimes dangerous work of herding, roping, and branding. Wilder does a lot of growing up over the week, and together he and Papa experience the kind of adventures that only a place like Texas can provide.