In The Wolfs Cub, Blaylock and Riley had briefly worked for corrupt Captain E.T. Barnette, who was determined to open a trading post at Tanana Crossing, but never made it up the river. Barnette's tenacity now pays off with the nearby discovery of gold, and his forlorn outpost becomes the bustling boomtown called Fairbanks. Overnight, Fairbanks is transformed from a canvas-tent outpost to a brick and stone city, including the imposing bank Barnette founds to safely horde all the gold he extracts from the miners as tribute.

When Nathan and Riley come up against the venal Barnette and oppose the Fairbanks king-pin, only Wyatt Earp and his pack of retired gunfighters can come to Blaylock's aid and rid the city of Barnette and his corrupt gang.