don m. russell

From the beginning, Muley Tatum is a thorn in Marshal Carsons side. Muley is a hideous, grinning character that kills for virtually no reason, and he rides with whatever set of misfits he can persuade. Most are of outlaw nature, such as PossumTucker, who escaped jail to re-associate with the horrendous outlaw. But there is also a pair of brothers, trail riders up from Texas, that follow the devious man in black, looking for, they dont know what - perhaps a chance for something better than going back to herding cows in Texas.

Carson was instilled as a U.S. Marshal by President Grover Cleveland, being solicited for the job by the Kansas governor and a territorial Judge, to bring reasonable law and order to the Dodge City area following the antics of the Earps, Luke Short, Mastersons, etc.

The trails Carson follows to corral the demented Muley Tatum are many, all of them laced with death. But uniquely, Tatum has a generous kindheartedness toward women folk that came about when he was a youngster - but its a weakness that could get him killed.