It is the fall of 1867. Twenty-two years have passed since Tim Colter and his family were ambushed on the Oregon Trail, forcing the young boy to grow up, forge ahead, and find an unlikely ally in one-eyed mountain man Jed Reno. Now a widowed deputy U.S. marshal and Civil War veteran, Colter is finally ready to remarry and settle down. But, when a dangerous new assignment becomes a life-or-death struggle for the soul of a town and the heart of its people, Colter must deputize his trusted old friend and wage a savage new war that will determine the fate of the Dakota territory and the future of a nation.