Breed of Men

Summary

In the arid, burgeoning landscape of Chloride, Arizona, a town perpetually teetering between nascent order and entrenched lawlessness, Careless Carmody, a cowboy whose very moniker suggests a certain insouciance, finds his fortunes irrevocably altered. A rigged faro game, orchestrated by the town's insidious land baron, Wes Prentice, strips Carmody of his financial security and his most trusted companion, his horse. This profound personal loss, however, unexpectedly propels him into the mantle of sheriff, a role he assumes within the very community where he was wronged. Unbeknownst to Carmody, Prentice operates a systematic deception, peddling parcels of land devoid of legitimate titles to unsuspecting settlers, only to cynically re-sell these same plots, leaving a wake of shattered aspirations. Amidst this simmering corruption, Carmody's path intersects with Ruth Fellows, a young woman he gallantly rescues from the unwanted advances of a local ruffian. This act of chivalry ignites a burgeoning attraction, a tender counterpoint to the harsh realities of frontier life. Yet, the intricate web of Prentice’s deceit soon ensnares Ruth herself, as Carmody is devastatingly compelled, by the very authority he now embodies, to serve her with papers of eviction from the land Prentice had fraudulently sold her. This cruel irony forces Carmody into a profound moral crucible, pitting his burgeoning affections and his civic duty against the deep-seated venality of the town's power structures, setting the stage for an inevitable confrontation where personal integrity and frontier justice hang precariously in the balance.

Synopsis

After losing his money and horse in the trail town of Chloride, Arizona, in a crooked faro game run by Wes Prentice, the owner of of the local land company, cowboy Careless Carmody becomes sheriff of Chloride. Unknown to Carmody, Prentice is selling land that has no titles to naive settlers, then reselling the land to other buyers. After saving pretty young Ruth Fellows from the unwanted attentions of a local ruffian, Carmody finds himself more and more attracted to her. However, things take a turn for the worse when Prentice has Carmody serve Ruth with papers throwing her off the land he has just sold her. Complications ensue.