Today's story began one morning as Hoppy and California were on their way back to the Bar 20, after delivering some brood mares to a rancher near Albuquerque in New Mexico. They had crossed a range of low mountains and stopped to water the horses at a creek, where California was proving himself to be a giant in the field of tall stories, regaling Hoppy with stories of his exploits with the likes of Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp, and Bat Masterson.