After ten years on the Texas cattle trail with little to show for it, twenty-six-year-old Clinton James heads west in hopes of striking it rich in the California gold fields. Lady, his salt-and-pepper gray, is getting old; he knows this will be her last drive. Riding into the dusty little town of Bitter Creek, James is broke, out of grub, and he has to find work-quickly. While wondering if he made the right decision, Clinton meets the first of...