Lloyd's novel begins in Stoneville, eastern Montana. Young Bill McCarthy and his friend Boots Axelbee, with the other C Bar cowboys, are attacked by Belle Fourche Sheriff O'Hara's posse. In the shoot-out, Bill kills the Sheriff and another deputy. The C Bar crew flees the scene and split up. Bill and Boots team up and head west. Action continues as they run into stock thieves after their horses, then end up in lawless Virginia City, seeking their fortune. Boots splits the team up and Bill ends up as a bounty hunter in the Montana frontier, while wanted himself for the Stoneville killings. Later, the Nez Perce flight from their home in Idaho intersects the Montana buffalo country and Bill finds himself embroiled in an Indian war. This book contains black and white photos.