When Joe Trueman rides into Dry Bluff with the injured body of Doc Drummond thrown across his horse's back, he little realizes the trouble he is getting into. Drummond is just one more victim of Kettle and his gang of gunslicks, who threaten not only the town but the wagon-train route to Denver and beyond. Dealing with Kettle is only the start. Behind Kettle looms the more menacing figure of Cush Vogler, and it's a long ride to Vogler's ranch, the Buckle M. Menaced every step of the way, Trueman arrives in the nearby settlement of Buzzard Roost. Then things really get hot. As violence erupts and a range war breaks out between the Buckle M and the much smaller Two Bar Cross, the citizens must decide: do they have the nerve to dare stand by Trueman when the bullets fly?