Even four years after the end of the Civil War the country is uneasy with rumors of the darkly impossible. A four-year cattle drive from Pennsylvania to Colorado will end at what will one day be known as "The Garden of the Gods." But can deathly secrets such as these remain buried? The first known appearance of the mysterious Government "man in black" is on hand to ensure that the grim, shambling things that had once been human stay buried, forever.