Grey submitted the manuscript of Tonto Basin to the magazine The Country Gentleman, which published it in serialization as To the Last Man from May 28, 1921, through July 30, 1921.

The story is based on a factual event involving the notorious Hashknife gang of Northern Arizona.

The ranchers are led by Jean Isbel and, on the other side, Lee Jorth and his band of cattle rustlers.

In the grip of a relentless code of loyalty to their own people, they fight the war of the Tonto Basin, desperately, doggedly, to the last man, neither side seeing the futility of it until it is too late.

And in this volatile environment, young Jean finds himself hopelessly in love with a girl from whom he is separated by an impassable barrier.