On a trip to visit his parents back East, Peter Ormond steals his father's collection of rare gold coins valued at $50,000. On the return trip to Prescott, Arizona Territory, Ormond himself is robbed. Back in Prescott, Ormond meets Charley Gunderson and agrees to help him take a herd of wild mustangs to Ash Fork to sell. When C. E. Ormond's black servant arrives to get the coins back, the three men find themselves on a military train and end up enlisting in the Rough Rider unit being formed by Teddy Roosevelt. In trying to save their skins, all three find themselves in the expeditionary force invading Cuba to defeat the Spaniards who are at war with the United States. The accuracy with which the battles are recounted is chillingly dramatic and unforgettable. With his customary panache for telling a vivid story with characters thrust into exciting historical events, Tim Champlin provides a narrative at once rich, original, and always surprising.