Captain Woodrow Call, now retired from the Rangers, is a bounty hunter. He is hired by an eastern rail baron to track down Joey Garza, a new kind of killer, only a boy, who kills from a distance with a rifle. Joined by his old compadre Pea Eye, it is a long ride to south Texas and the Mexican side of the border, where the past, in the form of Maria Garza, Joey's mother, haunts Call.

James Garner had been offered the roles of both Gus and Call in _"Lonesome Dove" (1989) (mini)_, but had to decline for health reasons.

Maria Garza:
What have you done?


Joey Garza:
I killed a gringo, Mama. I only like gringos when they're dead.

Continuity: After leaving Joey at the ladies house and heading to the saloon to see John Wesley Hardin, Maria is chased by the pig. She turns and shoots it and it falls on its left side. When she gets to the saloon and is talking to John Wesley, the camera shows the area behind her. The pig is lying on its right side and is still on its right side when she gets back to the house. When she takes her horse to bring it to the house, it is again on its left side.