If you were a peacekeeper in cattle country, you’d not only have to keep the desperadoes on their own turf, but keep decent people from heading out to take justice into their own hands. The Sheriff of Cow County had to be a man who was perceptive and courageous . . . a man who was wise enough to know when not to slap someone in jail. In the time of quick tempers and gun-barrel justice, only a very special kind of lawman lasted. The Sheriff of Cow County was one of that rare breed who had a fast fun, but even more important, he understood what drove men to violence and considered it as much his job to prevent crime as to prosecute it.