The Apache Indians were apt to bolt from the reservation at any time and murders were commonplace. Every man went armed and bad whiskey was common, as was over-indulgence; in New Mexico, fights that might have involved fists in other times and places involved guns, and often enough the fight left one or more dead by the time it was over. Corruption was the norm. The Santa Fe Ring, an alliance of crooked lawyers, politicians, and land speculators, controlled the courts. Cattle theft, ‘rustling’, was for many a way of life. But it was a way of life that threatened the survival of the honest ranchers and herdsmen of the time. It was little wonder that the rustler often ended his life at the end of a rope! Liam Clancy, Irish immigrant and recently-discharged veteran of the Union Army, had lost his young wife and unborn child to cholera. Grieving, he sold his homestead and headed west. More by accident than design, he ended up in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory. Crooked sheriffs and corrupt politicians, beware! This is as far as he will go. He will fight to protect himself, his property, and the young woman he intends to make his bride!