"Eons past an ancient creature the size of a bunk house lived out a solitary life and died all alone in a rugged prehistoric canyon. Millennia later that canyon would occupy an isolated corner of C. L. McSween's Rocking S Ranch. It might have gone on for millennia future untouched if not for McSween's plan to dam the canyon up to provide water for his cattle.

Paleontology is a brand new science in 1877 and when Samuel Cobsworth a paleontologist from back east discovers the cache of bones from this long-dead Jurassic monster he considers them a priceless treasure trove. C. L. McSween...