If there'd been any choice, Johnny Ross would have had no part of the trouble he knew was brewing. His gunfighting days were behind him, and now he had a wife and children and land of his own. But if he wanted to protect the peaceful life he'd earned for himself, there could be no standing aside.

The unrest had begun with the passing of the Maverick Bill which, contrary to the old law of the open range, made all unbranded cattle the property of the Stockmen's Association. In consequence, small-ranchers were being hounded by the big cattlemen, harassed and harried as though they were rustlers and outlaws.

Johnny Ross had to decide which side he was on, and soon found himself bucking the powerful Western Cattle Union and its ruthless boss, Boone Shadbee. He was not afraid of a fair fight, but Shadbee held all the aces when he took Johnny's wife as hostage. It was then that it got real personal ... and real deadly.