Among the Willows

Life west of the Pecos Trail isn’t an easy one.  California has been consumed by gold rush madness, swarming with greenhorn settlers, jealous prospectors, and greedy mining companies all fighting for their piece of the pie.  Arizona is struggling to transition from Mexican to American rule, aggravated by outlaws and unscrupulous businessmen taking advantage of the power vacuum.  Nevada is seeing its own growing pains as silver and opal boomtowns are overflowing with more mouths than the arid land and lack of infrastructure can support.  Not to mention the political spillover from the Civil War raging up and down the east coast.

With all this happening, opportunity is as bountiful as danger, and they usually go hand-in-hand.  There is gold and silver to be found, cattle to drive or rustle, railroad tracks to lay, trains to hold up, settlers to protect or shake down, and a thousand other jobs both noble and corrupt.  Your choices depend heavily on whether you believe the strict laws laid down in this frontier are an unwelcome yoke around your neck, holding you back from fame and fortune, or an absolute necessity, barely preventing this place from unraveling into a pit of anarchy and violence.

But violence is the currency of the day.  Much of the land is harsh and untamed.  People are competing for land, resources, wealth, and fame.  In border towns far from U.S. Marshall’s offices townsfolk often live in fear from outlaws and deadly pistol duels are commonplace.  Time to decide if you are going to add to the lawlessness for your own gain or take the reins of the law and make your mark in the name of justice.