Upon the discovery of three mutilated corpses, John Slocum's potentially lucrative buffalo hunt through Kansas is put on hold. When Colonel Charles Bradford and his men arrive to claim the body of his niece, Slocum can't help but notice the rather odd flag they're flying. It seems Bradford hopes to secede and begin a new nation in the wilds--a plan that Slocum believes to be foolish, and deadly.

But when Slocum later shoots a federal agent in self-defense, he's accused of killing the man in cold blood--and of conspiring with Bradford. Now, with more agents and Pinkertons hot on his trail, Slocum knows that clearing his name will mean taking matters into his own bloody hands.