When Johnny McCabe was a younger man, he roamed the Mexican border and his exploits led him to be known as the Gunman of the Rio Grande. Thirty years later, an old friend from the those days re-enters his life, gravely wounded and bringing with him a warning that a mutual enemy from their past is paying to have them both killed. Johnny and his family intend to defend his old friend and stand against their old enemy, even as the enemy sends an army of gunfighters descending on the McCabe ranch.

Also included as a bonus—a story of the original John McCabe who roamed the Appalachian Mountains during the French and Indian War.