Carl O'Bannion was a mere boy when his parents were mercilessly gunned down by a gang of former Union guerrillas led by Major Jamison "Wolf" Avrial. Now after ten years of perfecting his skills as a gunslinger, O'Bannion is known far and wide as Carlos the Snake.

Ranger Sam Burrack is hot on the trail of Carlos the Snake, who's been hunting down Avrial's men and leaving a trail of bodies across the frontier. Even though Burrack sympathizes with the desperado's desire for revenge, killing is killing, and it's his duty to uphold the law, no matter how just the cause . . . .