Comes a Horseman

It's the early 1940s in the American west. Ruthless rancher Jacob W. Ewing's family has lived in the region for generations, and his dream is to buy up all the land in the area to see the buffalo roam the area like they did when his grandfather was alive. With the help of New York businessman Neil Atkinson, whose family also grew up in the region, J.W. has managed to buy up all the land from neighboring ranchers who have not managed to eke out a living ranching, often with a little unwanted persuasion by J.W.'s henchmen. The one holdout is Ella Connors, whose family has also ranched the area for the last two generations with the help of the family's aged long-time hand, Dodger. One small player is war veteran Frank Athearn, to whom Ella sold a small plot of land to be able to pay her bills. Ella and J.W. have a history to which Ella is not too comfortable admitting. Although J.W. believes that Ella cannot survive another season financially, Ella and Frank, both who are committed to make a living ranching, enter into an uneasy alliance, especially after an incident driven by J.W. involving Frank and Frank's partner, fellow veteran Billy Joe Meynart. Also in the mix is Neil, who wants to do some exploratory drilling for oil in the area; he may call in his unspoken promissory note from J.W. But J.W. seems to be the one who will go to any length required to get what he wants.