A demented geologist can set off earthquakes where he chooses as part of an elaborate extortioin scheme. So West and Gordon head for Ellenville--the next town on the mad genius's list.

West and Gordon escort President Grant to San Fransisco to dedicate a statue of the late Colonel Wayne Gibson in Gibsonville. West rides ahead to check out the town and finds that it is plagued by a series of broken-neck murders and arguments over lost gold. A further investigation yields the fact that the Colonel is not as dead as was previously thought and that his statue is far from ordinary.