March 1888. Northeast Texas. President Grover Cleveland faces off against
Benjamin Harrison in Washington, the worst snowstorm in history rages
across the central United States, the Indian Wars are over, the Texas
Longhorn, long the staple of cattleman, is being replaced by the more
beefy Hereford, and Texas Ranger Jim Acker, after twelve years with the
service, decides to trade his guns for a pitchfork and a hoe and recline
on a creek bank of his youth with a straw in his mouth. When he returns
home to the family ranch he finds his old uncle in bad health and their
future in turmoil. Local land seekers headed by a true devil's advocate,
by stealth, wealth and death, are taking over the smaller area ranches. In
addition, a man the old ranger sent to prison five years earlier has been
released, a man who swore revenge and sets out to get it. Jim Acker finds
himself torn between his principles, his livelihood and his life. This is
his story.