"He was an ornery mean cuss that was ox bow strong and mule kick tough and he didn't care if he won or lost as long as he was fightin." So begins the tale of Cotton Kingfisher, Okie drifter and buck wild iron python rider known along the rails as the meanest son of a bitch West of the Rockies. Wild and rough in his old days, Cotton begins to feel the hurt of the earth settling into his bones the older he gets and he wanders off the rails in Montana to seek a home 'or a rough approximation thereof' not unlike a dog lookin for a place to die. What awaits Cotton in Stumptown Montana is a big sky beauty mark beautiful girl and a whole heap of trouble for 'goddamn pretty girls are always trouble'.