Red Manson had been an outlaw leader in Texas back in the States. When the law broke up his gang, he escaped to San Francisco, and there he heard about the gold strike in the Yukon Territory. He took passage to Dawson City, hoping to accumulate riches in a hurry, but when he arrived there, he discovered to get the gold, he'd have to put in hours of hard work. So he decided against it, drifting south in the hope of finding easy money.