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Born in Tennessee in 1817, John Coffee Hays, better known as Jack, heads to the frontier of the Texas Republic in the late 1830s. Texas has only recently gained its independence from Mexico and it needs tough, hard riding young men to serve as members of the Texas Rangers, a new organization that will leave a long legacy in the history of the American West. Hays first signs on with the unit commanded by Texas pioneer Erastus Smith and during the next few years rises through the ranks of the rangers. During the late 1830s and early 1840s, Jack Hays and the rangers confront bandits and resist the efforts by the Mexican government to reclaim Texas. The greatest challenge, however, comes from the ongoing struggle with the Comanche, the most powerful tribe in the West, who are determined to drive the settlers out of Texas. In June of 1844, Hays leads his small band of rangers into a desperate fight against a huge force of Comanche warriors that could determine the fate of Texas forever.