Eight years before the events in Porter, Tully cheated at a game of cards in Tenner's Smith casino. The player who caught him drew first and Tully killed him, but Tenner testified that Tully was cheating. Tully spent eight years in Yuma Prison as a result of Tenner's testimony.
When Tully got out, he came looking for revenge against Tenner. He hired a young gunslinger named Deal Jackford to kill Tenner once Tully taunted him into losing his temper. Tully neglected to tell Deal how fast Tenner was with a gun, hoping that Deal and Tenner would kill each other and Tully wouldn't have to pay Deal. Dying, Deal accused Tully of lying to him and setting the whole thing up, and Tully went back to prison.
