Nine years after the Civil War has ended Captain Frank McKinley is ordered to lead his small group of Texas rangers on a manhunt in search of a gang of ruthless outlaws that are robbing and killing throughout West Texas. Each of the rangers has a personal reason for catching up with the two brothers that lead the Rawlings gang, whose lawlessness falls far below even the lowest of acceptable civilized standards along the Rio Grande in 1874. The trail leads McKinley and his men into Mexico, back across the border to Texas and finally to Albuquerque in the New Mexico Territory. Along the way Captain McKinley, Jake Ridley, Ben Killeen and Little Bill have to fight for their lives against the Mexican army and the Comanche. Their confederate values are brought into question and as their individual characters unfold it would appear that their attitudes are not that much different from the villains that they are hunting.