Chapter 10 Summary

Sheep arrive in Colorado and now the cattle ranchers are fighting farmers like Potato Brumbaugh for water rights and sheep men such as Messmore Garret for the range. Brumbaugh continues to look for ways to divert more water onto his land for use on his crops with the idea that he can channel unused water back to the Platte. He admits that he's using up a great deal before the return to the river. For his part, Garret's arrival in Centennial creates an uproar. Seccumbe tries to convince the sheep ranchers to move out of the country but they refuse. Soon, two outlaws known as the Pettis boys arrive and kill one of the sheep ranchers, Bufe Coker,, who was among the cowboys on that first drive from Texas to Colorado. Coker's live-in girlfriend, a whore known as Fat Laura, is also shot...