Arkansas River, Colorado. To spare himself a three-day ride, Ken Parker convinces the captain of what appears to be an ordinary freight boat to find a place for him and his horse. But there is something strange about the vessel: the sailors seem to obey orders like soldiers while Ken is made to work hard and constantly watched. Then suddenly, from a bank, a group of men in military clothes attacked the boat, killing the crewmen. Everyone except Ken.
Hunting, Ken Parker clashes with writer Ambrose Bierce over a recently shot deer. After having tried their hand at boxing (more jokingly than anything else), the two begin to drink and talk while preparing the fire for the campfire. Thus Bierce has the opportunity to tell four stories of the American Civil War, set between Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee.
