Set in Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1899, book eleven in the Checker Board series continues to follow the trials and tribulations of Judge Dave Smith, and his family, friends, and foes. When a rattlesnake is set loose in his courtroom, stopping a civil trial and creating chaos, Dave suspects a hidden agenda, and he sets about to learn who caused the mayhem, and why. Separately, following a prison break, Dave's old US marshal partner, Jim Bowen, trails the "Hole in the Wall" outlaw gang, eventually joining forces with former sheriff, William "Red" Angus. Meanwhile, at the Checker Board, Dave's son Seth establishes a horseracing circuit, showcasing the ranch's thoroughbred champions. As the judge and his friends attempt to stop notorious bandits and bring law and order to Wyoming, their dogged persistence culminates in a final calamity involving Dave, Jim, and The Black, the ancestral sire of the Checker Board racehorses.