The year is 1888, and Johnny Hightree and his cousin Asa Maynard are two old ex-buffalo hunters and frontiersmen who have temporarily settled in the small town of Ralston, Kansas, not far from Dodge City. They are both serious elbow-benders and seem to be in a constant state of semi-inebriation. Johnny, however, has endeared himself to the town's residents with his far-fetched windies and good nature, thereby getting himself elected mayor.

When a fatal shooting occurs in town with several witnesses including Johnny, the town council curiously reduces Johnny's position from mayor to town marshal. Johnny then chooses his half-pickled cousin Asa to be his deputy, and that's when the future of Ralston, Kansas gets changed forever.

With an amusing, rambling style, Johnny Hightree relates the progress of solving a murder that is not as simple as it seemed in the beginning. The outlandish stories he tosses in along the way are funny, earthy, and downright priceless, told at a pace that ends just in time!