John Ewing has a dream. He wants to put defeat in the war behind him, and make something of his life. In his case, that means taking a herd of three thousand Texas Longhorns along the Chisholm Trail, all the way from San Antonio to the Kansas Pacific railhead in Abilene, Kansas. A dangerous journey of over seven hundred miles, with seemingly everything against him. But he has far more to contend with than just hostile Indians, prejudice from the victorious northerners and nature itself. Vernon Peck, an old Confederate Army comrade, turns up out of nowhere in desperate need of a job. His lethal talent with a gun brings undoubted benefits, but is employment all he is really after? And in addition, transcending all other concerns, there is the one thing that could ruin all of Ewing's hopes... Texas Fever!