Volume 4 of the 'Salida Sam' historical book series continues the tale, which started in 1880. This edition focuses almost exclusively on happenings inside the city limits of Salida, Colorado, in the years 1886 and 1887.
 
After two years of prosperity and relative calm, Salida faces the most difficult challenge ever when most of the original downtown district becomes leveled in a devastating fire. Everything is gone, except hope and determination, and the city begins the hard work of rebuilding.
 
The viciousness of the early boom years returns with numerous murders, knifings, and brutal fights. Locals are stunned by the renewed violence and rough characters who arrive in their community.
 
And something entirely new arrives to catapult Salida into the category of one of the west's most modern cities—electricity. Besides a downtown district with multi-story buildings and a prosperous railroad yard, Salida builds an electric plant and races past other cities with next-level technology—illumination.
 
Although shared through the journal of a fictional character, 'Salida Sam' Hayes, the stories are 100% true. The narrator speaks with his era's rough-hewn voice—a harsh, racist, and sexist time.