During the hot summer of 1888, three men are travelling to Cheyenne aboard a passenger car of the Union Pacific - Luke Tisdale, Marcus Stokesbury and Ezra McPherson. Luke, a medical doctor, seeks to claim the body of his brother, who has been murdered. He also intends to find out who killed him. Marcus, a newspaper reporter from Atlanta, is in pursuit of a story. And the story is Ezra, a man of mystery who once called the West home. Ezra, haunted by a violent past, becomes caught up in the conflict between cattle barons and the homesteaders who have come to Wyoming in search of the promised land. He faces a choice - either run from the imminent range war or enter the field of battle. He knows that fighting comes with a price, and the price is dust and heat.