Intrigue

Notoriuos liar Bill Barker, having been banished westward by the law, talks the townspeople of Martinez into making him Mayor and Judge. Here he must deal with the outlaw the Tonto Kid and the troublesome McQuinn Brothers, and also look after his daughter Nita Mosby--who thinks that her father is dead.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>

Bringing his reputation as "the biggest liar and the best shot west of Wichita" with him, Texan Bill Barker, veteran of the plains and of a hundred gun-scarred battles, is rebuffed in New York City in an encounter with the Wall Street buccaneer Sam Kent, and with Kent's lady-love, music-hall favorite Clara Martinez--who is also Barker's secret ex-wife. Back in Texas, Bill is defeated again in a brush with the law and the outlaw McQuinn brothers over the ownership of a horse. Swearing to get even with Kent and Clara, and with the McQuinns, Barker turns his horse toward southern Arizona, where the railroad is heading with a line of pioneers in its wake. Barker is determined to find "his puddle" and be the dominant frog in it. Arriving in the town of Martinez, Arizona, with his daughter Nita Mosby, who thinks Barker is her ward and that her father was a hero who died at Gettysburg. Taking advantage of a windfall opportunity, Barker soon becomes the town boss along with being the Mayor and the Sheriff. He befriends a young outlaw, The Tonto Kid, and sets himself up in his saloon, dispensing rough justice and maintaining a rude order and, in his own fashion, becomes a power for law and order. But the McQuinns have stirred up the Indians, the town has adopted a charter that threatens his reign, and Sam and Clara show up in a private train-car.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>