Jim East was a working cowboy on the LX Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, just trying to earn an honest living, when his plans took an unexpected turn. While trying to solve a rustling problem for the LX, he was recruited by legendary lawman Pat Garrett to join a posse of tough men to find and arrest outlaw Billy the Kid. When he returned to Tascosa, he was elected sheriff of Oldham County, charged with keeping the peace in the growing community and its population of gunmen, shady gamblers, rustlers, and thieves in a rowdy, hard-drinking town.
But the job got even worse when two factions—the cowboys and owners of small ranches and the powerful cattle barons who ruled the Panhandle—were gearing up for an all-out range war. And Jim was caught in the crossfire of the conflict that threatened to rip his town apart in a bloodbath that would make the Lincoln County range war look like a simple barroom brawl . .