In the high country of New Mexico, the land made the men, and Spencer Stanton wanted a hunk of it for his empire. But there were those who were bent on giving him a rough ride. Some were bunched up against him – the Yanqui-hating Mexicans to the south and the blood-hungry Utes to the north. Some were strung out alone – land-grabbing drifters with steel in their hearts and in their holsters, men like Hagen, a wagon boss-turned-killer who still carried around a Stanton bullet in his side.