There was bad blood between Hoyt and the Bonnetts. He carried the bullet scar where Riley, a Texas Ranger, had almost killed him. Leaving one dead in the dusty streets of El Paso, Hoyt and his partner made a run for it. Miles away they stopped in the small town of Jacksboro and to Hoyt's good fortune, he became the sheriff. He devised a scheme where he could relieve the town of its bankroll and kill two more Bonnetts in the process, then retire to some remote area and live out his life in ease. But some men don't kill easy and the Bonnetts were men from a feuding clan. They had been up the creek and over the mountain and to them 'root hog or die' was a way of life.