In The Leading Citizen of Pratt County, an aging con-man reflects on his life and the elaborate deceit that has allowed him to rise to prominence in a small, dusty town. He begins his tale with a sense of irony, acknowledging that while he is viewed as a paragon of virtue by the townsfolk, he knows himself to be a thoroughly bad man. The story unfolds as he recounts a pivotal moment from twenty years prior, when he and a partner, fresh from a successful con on the West Coast, find themselves stranded in a desolate stretch of land. Their plans take a turn for the worse when a horse they bet on loses, leading to a heated confrontation between the two men. In a fit of anger, the partner kicks him out, leaving him alone in a town that seems to have been forgotten by time.