Over the years, a cottonwood tree that had been seeded on the wind served as a beacon for wery travelers heading west to sow the seeds of their own dreams. When the Samuel Wilders family reached the tree, they were hobbled and tired, so they temporarily settled in an abandoned dugout near the tree. Wilders was unaware that Montana was the wrong place and this was the wrong time to be caught on someone else's ranch. Rustlers were robbing the ranchers blind, and vigilantes, led by Silas Tolkien of the Trident ranch, were hired to stop the rustlers. To Tolkien, everyone was a rustler until proven innocent and then it might be too late...