Beckett, an ex-cowboy turned mountain man, is no hero. He doesn't even carry a gun. The northern Idaho Territory gold rush has not only brought settlers and miners to his mountain, it's also brought outlaws and killers and he wants no part of it. On his bi-yearly supply trip to Temperance, Beckett witnesses a local miner horrifically gunned down by a sheriff's deputy. He comes to find that a ruthless businessman has appointed himself sheriff and is holding the town captive, acquiring their gold claims along the Coeur d'Alene river. When the sheriff's men threaten to destroy him and the people he cares about, Beckett is forced to fight back, armed only with his wits, his strength and his Bowie knife.