The contest took place in Calaveras County, in the story, Jim Smiley trains different animals to win bets, since he loves to bet. A stranger arrives at Calaveras County and decide to take a bet with JIm about the prowess of his Jumping frog. Foolishly, Jim leaves the frog with the stranger and goes outside to look for a second frog to be able to place the bet, meanwhile,the stranger fill the frog full of buckshot, which ultimately makes Jim lose the bet and the stranger gets away with the money before Jim realises he's been cheated.