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A young and grieving Justin Simms travels to Colorado in 1876 to claim lands he has just inherited. Sam Boden, a fellow traveler, helps him deal with his mother's death. They part ways in Denver, while Justin travels on to Trinidad, a town adjacent to his lands. Justin learns that the Castle and Kantel families claim prior occupancy of his lands, but he finds an ally in Squinty Craig, who is ready... More

A young and grieving Justin Simms travels to Colorado in 1876 to claim lands he has just inherited. Sam Boden, a fellow traveler, helps him deal with his mother's death. They part ways in Denver, while Justin travels on to Trinidad, a town adjacent to his lands. Justin learns that the Castle and Kantel families claim prior occupancy of his lands, but he finds an ally in Squinty Craig, who is ready to partner with him to assert his right to the land and to plan its use. He meets young Kate Kantel and begins to dream of a future with her. He also meets Lilly, Andrew Castle's odd and lonely daughter. Misfortune overtakes him when two tragic events follow one on the other. First, Squinty is killed in a pointless duel. Second, Lilly appears to tell him she is pregnant, that the child she bears is Justin's, and that she has just told this to her menacing father. She insists that Justin run away with her before her father finds them. She then admits to a shocked Justin that Andrew Castle, her father, is actually the father of her unborn child. On cue, Andrew arrives in homicidal rage. Justin flees astride a stallion, which, with Squinty's help he had gentled and trained. He runs convinced that Andrew would kill him with impunity and that, in any case, everyone, including Kate Kantel, would believe Lilly's false charges of his paternity.

He wanders into the camp of a band of petty rustlers. He is hungry, dazed, and hopeless. Asked his name and where he is from, he stops short of saying Simms, and says Sands instead. When they learn he is from the Purgatoire River region, they dub him Purgatory Sands. Thinking he is mentally slow, they hire him to stay with the bandleader's woman while they are occasionally away rustling. But, after some months he emerges from his despondency and asserts the wish to be an equal member of the band. 'Tex' befriends him and teaches him skill with a revolver. On a raid to recover a large herd, the band is ambushed and all but Tex and Purgatory are killed, and Tex is wounded. Purgatory relies on the jumping ability of the stallion to enable Tex and him to escape capture by the posse led by renowned 'Marshal Sam.' Purgatory and Tex go to Denver to permit Tex to heal. For a time they live high on money Tex had previously banked from his nefarious enterprises. Later they drift into Texas and hire out to ramrod a cattle drive for a group of small ranchers. Tex has the wanderlust, so they drift back to Texas and run into Tex's cousin, Jack Staley, whom Tex fears. Jack invites them to join his band. He is a daring rustler and robber. He plans a raid on the Amarillo train station. But, it goes awry, partly because Purgatory is recognized as Justin Simms by an old school associate who is passing through Amarillo on the way to California. Purgatory drops out of the daring and unsuccessful robbery. Later, at their rendezvous, Jack and Tex have words over the raid's failure. They duel. Tex is killed and Jack mortally wounded. Purgatory defends himself by shooting Jack and two henchmen. Purgatory is tracked by a lone pursuer, Marshal Sam. His horse grows lame after weeks of eluding pursuit, so he confronts Marshal Sam in a gunfight, wounds him, then discovers that the Marshal is actually Sam Boden, the same man who had befriended him almost five years before.

Sam recovers with Purgatory's nursing and decides not to press charges against Purgatory. As they travel to Santa Fe, Sam's association causes Purgatory to reflect on his life as an outlaw. His life as a fugitive has engendered a great loneliness. Sam's company causes him to realize he has a strong wish to reconnect with others. As they travel, he has a dream about a woman, somewhat like Kate Kantel, dark-haired and blue-eyed. In the dream, she is his wife, the mother of his children. He takes her by the shoulders and looks into her face the better to know her. The dream fills him with longing. They travel to Santa Fe, Sam's headquarters. Sam te

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