 After 18 years in the army, Nichols decides to quit after the introduction of a new, deadlier type of machine gun.He comes back to the town founded by his family to learn that it has been taken over by another family, the Ketchams.At the end of the pilot episode, matriarch Ma Ketcham (Neva Patterson) blackmails Nichols into serving as the town sheriff, a position which carries little actual authority but considerable danger.