Orphaned after the death of her mother, eighteen-year-old Esther Chambers heads west in search of her only living relative. In the lawless frontier town of Century, Oregon, she's met by her distant cousin, a laconic cattle rancher named Ferris Pickett. Pick leads her to a tiny cabin by a small lake, and there she begins her new life as a homesteader. If she can hold out for five years, the land will join Pick's impressive spread. But this town on the edge of civilization is in the midst of a very real range war. There's plenty of land, but somehow it is not enough for the ranchers. Small incidents of violence swiftly escalate, and the bloodshed starts to threaten the town's future. Meanwhile, Esther finds her sympathies divided between her cousin Pick and the man she's falling for, shepherd Ben Cruff, sworn enemy of the cattlemen.