Cimarron badman legend Clay Allison takes his readers on a ride through his uneven and turbulent life while trying to grab a part of his own American dream: an extensive ranch with herds of cattle, and a progeny of sons to generate his name and legacy into the future. But alas, his soul-selling choice of a shortcut to prosperity by linking his star with the Santa Fe Ring skewers his plans and darkens his future. Echoing a Greek tragedy, he ends marked for assassination, and his younger brother John is shot-gunned in the dark by error, mistaken for Clay. His final years are not to be envied, but he toughs it out to the end.