The Monterey stagecoach arrives with an assorted group of passengers; J. Rodney Stevens, an Eastern con-man; Throckmorton "Other-Hand" Snodgrass, the self-proclaimed 'best tramp printer west of the Mississippi River'; and Chick Weaver, posing as outlaw Bruce Redmond. Although Chick and "Other-Hand" pretend to be strangers, the are undercover agents for the U. S. Treasury Department. In Monterey, Stevens allies himself with "Black Jack" Barstow and, together, they plan to victimize the miners by means of forged Mint Certificates by planting the rumor that the U.S. is going on the silver standard. "Other-Hand" gets a job with the local printer, Chester Wade, who is in debt to Barstow and is being forced to print the bogus certificates.
—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>