The Salt Creek Valley in Colorado Territory is the setting for "The Guns in Greasewood Valley", the story of brothers Tom and Dayton Roark, who share a small ranch. When Tom falls prey to malicious gossip about his wife, he responds with violence that escalates from a personal conflict to a crisis on the range. In the title story, Dan Iles is sent by his father to Ox-Yoke Ranch to see how much of their water John Mallory is diverting through his floodgate. John isn't there, but his wife is . . . and naive young Dan becomes a victim of her plans to escape her unhappy marriage.