False face

In the dry high plains of central Oregon, a stubborn sheriff forces an aging storekeeper into the badge, despite his protests. Dave Budd, more interested in quiet evenings than law‑making, finds himself thrust into a role he never asked for, while the town’s uneasy peace trembles beneath a new authority. The clash of stubborn pride and reluctant duty sets the tone for a frontier community on the brink.

The promise of a massive irrigation project draws a rag‑tag crowd of hopeful families, wagon trains, and restless drifters to the town’s modest crossroads. With tents popping up overnight and rumors of missing supplies spreading, Sheriff Bart McKenzie assigns Budd to keep an eye on a red‑haired newcomer whose motives seem as tangled as the surrounding pine. As strangers settle and tensions rise, the uneasy balance between law, livelihood, and ambition begins to fray.