Twenty-two years ago Tim Colter's family was ambushed on the Oregon Trail, forcing the young boy to find an unlikely ally in one-eyed mountain man Jed Reno. Now a widowed deputy U.S. marshal and Civil War veteran, Colter is ready to remarry and settle down when he gets a dangerous new assignment. The Union Pacific Railroad is laying track to the northwest. Rival factions have set upon the town of Violet to gain control of the rails. To tame the rampant greed and rising tensions, Colter will need to deputize his trusted old friend, Jed Reno.