Raised by a kindhearted army scout named Gaffrey, orphaned Laredo never knew much about his parents' deaths. But when Gaffrey is shot while he and the now grown Laredo are on a scouting mission, he decides he can't take his secret to the grave—and tells Laredo about the Tysons.
Laredo's father, Scott Tyson, was a rancher who'd fled to Texas with his wife. Back in Tennessee, he had killed a member of the Harrington family, and its clan members eventually found the Tysons and murdered them—except Laredo, who had been hidden in the root cellar. That's where Gaffrey had found him.
Gaffrey survives his gunshot wound. Now armed with new knowledge, Laredo vows to avenge his parents. The two men head to Colorado, where the Harringtons have become even stronger than before.
The Harrington family has turned to ranching, amassing vast land tracts and eyeing one rival ranch in particular: the spread owned by the Coles. After murdering Mr. Cole, the Harringtons try to pressure his daughter, Leslie, into marrying Bobby Harrington.
With Laredo in town, however, the Harringtons' greed is thwarted. But the family is powerful—and nothing short of a no-holds-barred showdown will stop them.
