Meet Jefferson Howard

The strongest people deserve someone to lean on.

If you ask the other Iron Oath Sentinels about Jefferson Howard, you might hear something about explosives.

If JT Perrine is doing the talking, you might hear something about Jeff's ability to make things go boom without blowing himself up in the process. JT has a great deal of confidence in his friend's talents.

Jeff? He's more concerned about making sure nobody else gets hurt.

Jeff Howard is a man who learned early that if something needed doing, he was going to have to figure out how to do it himself.

Born into grinding poverty in Louisiana, Jeff grew up with little formal education and few advantages. When his father disappeared, Jeff shouldered responsibilities no child ought to have had to carry. He learned to read, write, calculate, and eventually master the science of explosives through sheer determination.

He earned his commission because the men serving alongside him recognized what he could do.

Not because of his family name. Not because of a polished education. Because he was good at his job, and his men trusted him with their lives.

That trust means everything to Jeff.

He's a veteran of the Civil War, one of the Immortal 600, and one of the five men who swore an oath to protect one another after enduring captivity together. That promise didn't end when the war did.

But surviving a war doesn't mean a man comes home unscathed.

Jeff carries the weight of lives lost, mistakes he believes he should have prevented, and a conviction that if he miscalculates even once, someone else may pay the price.

There's a line he writes over and over in his notebook:

“I cannot miscalculate a blast. People die for my mistakes.”

That's Jeff in a nutshell.

He doesn't see his talent as something to brag about. He sees it as a responsibility. And when you grow up believing that the people who depend on you will suffer if you fail, it's a hard habit to break.

Jeff is quiet, rough around the edges, and more comfortable solving a practical problem than talking about what's going on inside his head. He's also fiercely loyal. Once you've earned his trust, he'll stand beside you when things get ugly.

He's not the most polished of the original five oath brothers. He knows that, and it bothers him more than he lets on. But the men who know him best understand that formal education and social refinement aren't the measures that count when lives are on the line.

And then Jeff finds himself in Echo Ridge, Colorado Territory, where being a town marshal brings a whole new set of problems.

Some of those problems come with four children who need someone to look out for them.

Others come in the form of a woman who has more secrets than she's willing to admit.

Jeff has spent most of his life believing that being responsible for other people means carrying the burden alone. He's about to discover that loyalty, trust, and family can mean something more than shouldering the weight yourself.

Because even the strongest people need someone to lean on.

And that's Jefferson Howard.