The Slash W ranch owned by Dan Whitley lay between the big ranches of Tom Synder and Jason King who were determined to have it. All their efforts to buy him out proved futile. It was Johnny Synder, Tom's youngest son who decided if it couldn't be bought with money, he would take it with guns. He led the group of five men on the night they brutally murdered the Whitley family and opened up the ranch for his greedy father. The foul deed was laid to others and the murderers rode the range free. No one in Salmon Flats knew that Dan Whitley's wife was born a Bonnett. They came from the mountains of Tennessee and Carolina, and to them, family ties were sacred. Only three headed for Salmon Flats but that should be enough. When they left, the family account was settled.